)RG  CJRONAU 

f 


LEONARDO 
DA  VINCI 


Kisc/t);ifz. 

VIRGIN    OF   THE   ROCKS  (LOUVRE). 


LEONARDO 
DA  VINCI 

BY   DR,    GEORG  GRONAU 


CHICAGO  NEW  YORK 

RAND,  McNALLY  &  COMPANY 


PRINTED  IN  GREAT  BRITAIN  AT 
THE  BALLANTYNE  PRESS 
LONDON 


PREFACE 


WHOEVER  undertakes  to  speak  of  Leonardo, 
of  his  life  and  art,  must  be  conscious 
that  he  has  only  fragments  to  offer. 
Fragmentary  indeed  is  all  that  we  positively  know 
of  the  external  conditions  under  which  he  pro- 
duced his  works.  Fragmentary  too  is  all  that  we 
possess  of  his  artistic  legacy.  And  the  most  precious 
treasures  that  Leonardo  left  behind  him — his  drawings 
— have  neither  been  reproduced  collectively  by  the 
resources  of  modern  skill,  nor  adequately  examined 
from  the  critical  point  of  view. 

In  a  book  intended  to  be  read  by  such  as  find  pleasure 
in  art,  there  is  no  place  for  the  many  controversies 
which  have  arisen  over  the  authenticity  of  some  of 
his  works.  The  critical  questions  the  author  was 
obliged  to  settle  for  himself  and  to  state  his  own  views 
as  actual  facts. 

Moreover,  the  other  side  of  this  genius — his 
scientific  work — could  not  be  considered  here.  But 
the  publication  of  Leonardo's  collected  manuscripts 
will  enable  every  one  to  gain  an  insight  into  the 
colossal  speculations  of  his  great  mind. 

I  feel  myself  under  the  most  sincere  obligation 
to  Mr.  Bernhard  Berenson  for  the  valuable  aid  which 
he  has  rendered  me  in  my  work.    To  him  is  due  the 

5 


PREFACE 

interesting  conjecture  that  Leonardo  has  left  behind 
his  own  portrait  in  the  Adoration  of  the  Kings.  Mr. 
Berenson  has  also  kindly  placed  at  my  disposal  the 
photographs  taken  specially  for  him.  I  have  to 
thank  furthermore  Dr.  J.  P.  Richter  for  permission 
to  reproduce  some  of  the  plates  from  his  book  "  The 
Literary  Works  of  Leonardo  da  Vinci." 

GEORG  GRONAU. 


6 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

PREFACE  5 

LEONARDO'S  LIFE  13 

EARLY  WORKS  49 

THE  ADORATION  OF  THE  KINGS  56 

EQUESTRIAN  MONUMENTS  62 

LA  VIERGE  AUX  ROCHERS  67 

THE  LAST  SUPPER  72 

THE  "  SAINT  ANNA  "  79 

LEDA  83 
THE  CARTOON  OF  "  THE  BATTLE  OF  ANGHIARI  "  87 

THE  "  MONA  LISA  "  91 

THE    JOHN  THE  BAPTIST  "  95 

ON  LEONARDO'S  "  TREATISE  ON  PAINTING  "  97 

SOME  WORKS  ON  LEONARDO  103 


7 


The  "  Study  for  St.  Anna  (Venice),"  page  78,  and  "  The 
Fight  for  the  Standard.  Central  part  of  the  Battle  of 
Anghiari  (Louvre),  copied  by  Reubens,"  page  86,  have 
been  substituted  for  "The  Head  of  an  Angel  (Turin)" 
and  "Landscape  1473  (Uffizi)  "  in  this  list. 


LIST  OF  PHOTOGRAVURES 

Facing  p. 

LA  VIERGE  AUX  ROCHERS  (or,  VIRGIN  OF  THE  ROCKS). 

Louvre 

Photography  Braun,  Clement      Cie,  Dornach,  Paris  and  New 
Tork  Frontispiece 

ADORATION  OF.  THE  MAGI.   Louvre  14 
Photograph,  Braun,  Clement  ^  Cie.,  Dornach,  Paris  and  New 
Tork 

PORTRAIT  OF  ISABELLA  D'ESTE  (?).   Louvre  18 
Photograph,  Braun,  Clement      Cie,  Dornach,  Paris  and  New 
Tork 

ST.  JEROME.   Vatican  24 
From  a  photograph  by  Anderson,  Rome 

HEAD  OF  JUDAS.    Windsor  Library  28 

STUDY  FOR  THE  HEAD  OF  A  WARRIOR.  Buda-pesth 

Gallery  34 
Photograph,  Braun,  Clement  iff  Cie.,  Paris,  Alsace  and  New 
Tork 

HEAD  OF  ANGEL.   Turin  38 
By  permission  of  Dr.  Richter  and  Messrs.  Sampson  Low  Co. 

LANDSCAPE.   Windsor  Library  42 
By  permission  of  Dr.  Richter  and  Messrs.  Sampson  Low  iff  Co. 

STUDIES  OF  NUDE  FIGURES.   Armand  Collection  46 
Photograph,  Braun,  Clement  iff  Cie.,  Dornach^  Paris  and  New 
Tork 


LIST  OF  PHOTOGRAVURES 


Facing  p 

STUDIES  OF  HANDS.    Windsor  Library  48 

THE  ANNUNCIATION.   Louvre  50 
Photograph,  Braun,  Clement  ^  Cie.,  Dornach,  Paris  and  New 
Tork 

LANDSCAPE.   Dated  1473.   Uffizi  52 
Photograph,  Alinari,  Florence 

VIRGIN  AND  CHILD.   Louvre  54 
From  a  photograph  by  Giraudon 

STUDY  OF  DRAPERY.    Louvre  56 
Photography  Braun,  Clement      Cie.,  Dornach,  Paris  and  New 
Tork 

DETAIL  OF  THE  "  ADORATION  OF  THE  MAGI  "  58 

THE  VIRGIN  OF  THE  ROCKS.   National  Gallery  68 
Photograph,  Hanfstaengl 

THE  LAST  SUPPER.   Milan  72 
Photograph  by  Anderson,  Rome 

THE  LAST  SUPPER.   Milan.   The  Apostles  St.  Bartholomew, 

St.  John  the  Younger  and  St.  Andrew  7^ 
Photograph,  Anderson,  Rome 

THE  LAST  SUPPER.   Milan.   The  Apostles  St.  Matthew,  St. 

Thaddeus  and  St.  Simon  74 
Photograph,  Anderson,  Rome 

THE  LAST  SUPPER.   Milan.   Christ  74 
Photograph,  Anderson,  Rome 

THE  LAST  SUPPER.   Milan.   The  Apostles  St.  Thomas,  St. 

John  the  Elder  and  St.  Philip  76 
Photograph,  Anderson,  Rome 

THE  LAST  SUPPER.   Milan.   The  Apostles  Judas,  St.  Peter 

and  St.  John  76 
Photograph,  Anderson,  Rome 

10 


LIST  OF  PHOTOGRAVURES 

Facing  p. 

THE  "  ST.  ANNA."   Louvre  80 
Photograph,  Braun,  Clement  iff  Cie.,  Dornach,  Paris  and  New 
York 

THE  SAINT  ANNA  CARTOON— Detail.   Diploma  Gallery, 

Burlington  House  82 

STUDY  OF  DRAPERY  FOR  THE  ST.  ANNA  PICTURE. 

Louvre  82 
Photograph,  Braun,  Clement  iff  Cie.,  Dornach,  Paris  and  New 
York 

STUDY  FOR  THE  "BATTLE  OF  ANGHIARI."  Venice 

Academy  88 
Photograph,  Alinari,  Florence 

HORSEMEN  AND  SOLDIERS.   Windsor  Library  90 

NEPTUNE.   Windsor  Library  90 

PORTRAIT  OF  MONA  LISA.   Louvre  92 
Photograph,  Braun,  Clement  i^  Cie.,  Dornach,  Paris  and  New 
York 

ST.  JOHN.   Louvre  96 
Photograph,  Braun,  Clement  iff  Cie.,  Dornach,  Paris  and  New 
York 

PROFILE  OF  WARRIOR.   Malcolm  Collection  98 
Photograph,  Braun,  Clement  iff  Cie.,  Dornach,  Paris  and  New 
York 

STUDY  OF  A  TREE.   Windsor  Library  100 


II 


LEONARDO'S  LIFE 


NOT  far  from  the  place  where  the  Val  d'Arno 
widens,  and  the  territories  of  the  Republics 
of  Florence  and  Siena  adjoin,  lies  the  little 
village  of  Vinci.  It  is  built  on  hills,  which  enclose 
a  richly  cultivated  plain,  and  the  tower  of  an  old 
fortalice  frowns  above  it.  Here,  according  to  the 
best  traditions,  Leonardo  was  born  in  the  year  1452. 

The  family  to  which  his  father,  Ser  Piero,  belonged, 
can  be  traced  back  to  the  first  half  of  the  fourteenth 
century.  From  it  issued  a  long  line  of  notaries,  and 
Leonardo's  father  himself  was  a  member  of  the  legal 
profession.  In  later  years  he  repeatedly  acted  as 
notary  to  the  Signoria  of  Florence.  Ser  Piero  was 
about  four-and-twenty  years  old,  when  he  formed  an 
illicit  union  with  a  girl  named  Caterina.  Leonardo 
was  the  child  of  their  love.  His  mother  was  after- 
wards married  to  a  villager  of  Vinci.  Ser  Piero 
returned  to  Florence,  where  he  married  four  wives. 
But  it  was  not  until  late  in  life  that  he  had  a  fairly 
numerous  issue. 

In  Florence  the  family  dwelt  close  to  the  Signorial 
Palace,  in  a  house  built  on  the  spot  where  Giuliano 
da  San  Gallo's  masterpiece — the  Palazzo  Gondi — 
now  stands.  How  that  place  and  its  vicinity 
then  appeared,  is  faithfully  shown  in  the  picture  of 
Savonarola' s  Death  in  the  Museo  San  Marco. 

The  boy  grew  up  in  Florence  in  the  society  of  his 
aged  grandparents,  his  father,  his  father's  wife,  and 

13 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

an  uncle.  Quite  early  in  life  he  must  have  displayed 
exceptional  gifts,  and  doubtless  received  the  form 
of  education  w^hich  v^as  then  customary.  Moreover, 
at  an  unusually  early  age,  the  fancy  of  the  boy  awoke 
and  surrounded  him  with  its  images.  "  The  first 
remembrance  of  my  childhood,"  he  wrote  later,  is 
that,  as  I  lay  in  my  cradle,  methought  a  kite  came 
flying  to  me,  and  opened  my  mouth  with  his  tail  ; 
wherewith  he  smote  me  many  times  on  the  lips." 
Was  it  that  the  awakening  of  his  genius  appeared  to 
him  in  after  reflections  under  the  form  of  a  messenger 
sent  from  above  ? 

His  mental  powers  might  have  induced  his  father 
to  give  him  a  learned  calling.  But  his  artistic  talent 
was  so  pronounced  that  he  was  entrusted  to  the  charge 
of  an  artist.  In  which  year  this  took  place  is  unknown 
to  us.  He  was  probably  still  quite  a  child,  about 
ten  years  old.    His  master  was  Andrea  del  Verrocchio. 

Verrocchio  himself  was  still  quite  young,  and  had 
not  yet  created  any  of  the  works  which  established 
his  later  fame.  He  had  perhaps  only  just  made  the 
step  from  goldsmith  to  sculptor  in  the  grand  style. 
But  already  his  studio  was  filled  with  numerous 
pupils,  evidently  drawn  thither  by  his  minute  and 
extensive  knowledge  of  the  various  branches  of  art 
of  which  he  was  a  master.  His  teaching  embraced 
painting  and  sculpture  alike.  The  most  notable 
of  his  pupils,  however,  became  painters  ;  besides 
Leonardo,  in  particular  Verrocchio's  favourite  pupil, 
Lorenzo  di  Credi  and  Perugino. 

In  the  year  1472,  at  the  age  of  twenty,  Leonardo 
was  admitted  into  the  Guild  of  Painters.  But  he 
remained  in  Verrocchio's  studio,  and  was  still  with  his 
master  in  1476.  Even  without  express  evidence,  we 
may  assume  that  he  took  a  certain  part  in  the  great 
artistic  undertakings  of  Verrocchio,  who  at  that  time 

14 


ADORATION    OF   THE    MAGI  (LOUVRE). 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

was  executing  his  David  and  his  Unbelieving  Thomas. 
A  tradition,  reaching  back  to  the  days  of  Leonardo, 
simply  informs  us  that  he  painted  one  angel  in  the 
picture  of  The  Baptism  of  Christ  in  San  Salvi  (now 
in  the  Florentine  Academy).  The  present  state  of 
this  significant  altarpiece  does  not  allow  us  to  express 
a  definite  opinion  on  this  difficult  question. 

The  earliest  works  of  Leonardo  to  which  dates  can 
be  assigned,  are  a  pen  and  ink  drawing  of  1473  (in 
the  Uffizi),  representing  a  wide  view  over  a  plain 
intersected  by  a  river,  and  a  Madonna,  holding  on 
her  lap  the  Child,  who  is  playing  with  a  cat.  Of  this 
Madonna  many  studies  are  in  existence,  differing 
widely  from  each  other.  It  must  be  one  of  the  two 
compositions  mentioned  by  Leonardo  on  a  sketch 
showing  two  studies  of  heads  (in  the  Uffizi) bre 
(one  of  the  last  four  months  of  the  year  is  meant) 
1478,  incominciai  le  2  Vergine  Marie." 

In  the  meantime,  an  important  commission  had 
been  given  him  by  the  State.  On  the  loth  of  January, 
1478,  he  received  an  order  for  an  altarpiece  for  the 
chapel  in  the  Signorial  Palace,  dedicated  to  St. 
Bernard.  At  the  same  time  the  contract  made  shortly 
before  with  Pietro  Pollaiuolo  was  cancelled.  The 
question  is,  did  Leonardo  ever  touch  this  picture  ? 
After  his  departure  from  Florence  in  1483  the  work 
was  passed  on  to  Ghirlandajo,  who  did  equally  little 
to  it ;  and  finally  the  canvas  was  carried  out  by 
Filippino. 

In  December  1479  he  produced  the  pen  and  ink 
sketch  of  a  political  execution.  Possibly  in  accordance 
with  a  well-known  Florentine  custom,  Leonardo  was 
deputed  to  commemorate  in  painting  the  end  of 
Bernardo  Bandini  and  the  murder  of  Giuliano  de 
Medici ;  and  the  drawing,  which  is  now  in  the 
Bonnat  Collection  at  Paris,  was  made  on  the  spot  for 

IS 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

that  purpose.  At  any  rate,  Leonardo  has  noted 
on  the  margin  the  details  of  the  offender's  dress. 

In  148 1  Leonardo  undertook  to  paint  an  altarpiece 
for  the  monks  of  San  Donato  a  Scopeto.  A  series  of 
payments,  partly  in  kind,  are  recorded  in  the  books 
of  the  Convent.  This  time  the  artist  at  least  began 
his  work,  and  the  ground  colouring  of  the  Adoration 
of  the  Kings  (in  the  Ufhzi)  is  the  chief  evidence  of  his 
artistic  activity  in  his  early  years.  For  it  is  in  the 
highest  degree  probable  that  this  composition  was 
intended  for  the  monks  of  San  Donato.  At  all 
events  Filippino's  picture  which  ultimately  took  its 
place,  deals  with  the  same  subject  and  plainly  reveals 
an  acquaintance  with  Leonardo's  picture. 

Vasari  has  handed  down  to  us  a  record  of  other 
works  by  the  young  master.  But,  as  often,  his 
account  lapses  into  mere  anecdote  and  fable.  So  his 
stories  of  the  wooden  shield  covered  with  all  kinds  of 
beasts,  and  of  the  appallingly  realistic  Medusa's 
head,  will  be  accepted  as  true  or  false  according  as  the 
reader  believes  or  disbelieves  the  biographer.  A 
study  for  the  picture  of  Adam  and  Eve,  intended  to 
be  woven  in  silk  in  Flanders,  but  afterwards  abandoned, 
has  long  since  disappeared. 

That  Leonardo  remained  at  Florence  until  far 
into  the  year  148 1,  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  as  late 
as  the  28th  of  September  he  received  a  cask  of  red  wine 
sent  to  him  from  the  monastery.  From  that  time 
we  lose  all  trace  of  his  abode  in  his  native  city  which 
he  must  have  left  soon  after. 

What  had  driven  him  from  Florence  among  aliens  ? 
Most  probably  the  desire  to  create  on  a  grand  scale, 
and  to  find  a  field  better  fitted  for  his  many  sided 
talents.  How  many  there  were  who  left  Florence 
at  that  time ;  Verrocchio,  for  instance,  and  the 
brothers  PoUaiuolo  !  For  a  time,  too,  almost  all  the 
16 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 


others  who  had  any  standing  in  Florence.  It  was  a 
period  of  international  artistry.  Where  great  oppor- 
tunities were  offered,  there  the  artist  found  his 
home  and  country.  Leonardo  had  cast  his  eye  on 
the  mighty  city  of  northern  Italy,  and  on  the  prince 
who  for  a  time  held  the  first  position  in  Italy — on 
Milan,  and  on  Lodovico  il  Moro  of  the  house  of 
Sforza. 

***** 

In  February,  1482,  we  first  get  tidings  of  Leonardo's 
presence  in  Milan.  He  must  then  already  have 
been  engaged  for  some  time  on  the  work  which  occu- 
pied him  for  the  next  sixteen  years — the  equestrian 
statue  of  Francesco  Sforza.  For  just  at  this  time  a 
Neapolitan  poet,  Arrigoni,  sent  to  Lodovico  Moro 
some  epigrams  for  the  monument. 

The  migration  of  Leonardo  and  its  immediate 
circumstances  are  variously  recorded.  The  oldest 
anonymous  biographer  tells  us  that  Lorenzo  the 
Magnificent  knew  the  artist  well,  and  sent  him 
when  he  was  thirty  years  old,  to  convey  a  lyre  to  the 
Duke  of  Milan,  "  as  Leonardo  played  this  instrument 
quite  remarkably."  On  the  other  hand,  a  note  in 
Leonardo's  writing  can  be  read  in  the  "  Codex 
Atlanticus,"  wherein  he  speaks  of  himself  as  "  the 
man  whom  my  Lord  the  Duke  summoned  from 
Florence  to  carry  out  this  his  work." 

Leonardo  offered  his  services  to  the  Duke  in  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  documents  that  a  genius 
ever  composed  about  his  own  powers.  He  set  forth 
in  detail  all  he  could  do  in  engineering  science  and  in 
the  production  of  the  appliances  of  war,  and  then, 
in  the  tenth  clause,  he  went  on  to  say  :  "  In  time  of 
peace,  I  believe  that  I  could  equal  any  other  as  regard 
works  in  architecture  both  public  and  private.  I 
can  likewise  conduct  water  from  one  place  to  another. 

B  17 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

Furthermore,  I  can  execute  works  in  sculpture, 
marble,  bronze,  or  terra-cotta.  In  painting  also  I 
can  do  what  can  be  done  as  well  as  any  other,  be  he 
who  he  may.  Moreover,  I  can  undertake  the  making 
of  the  bronze  horse,  which  is  a  monument  that  will 
be  to  the  perpetual  glory  and  immortal  honour  of 
my  lord  your  father,  of  happy  memory,  and  the  illus- 
trious house  of  Sforza." 

In  these  last  words  he  alludes  to  the  execution  of 
the  great  work  which  was  probably  Lodovico  Moro's 
main  reason  for  summoning  Leonardo.  Already 
ten  years  before,  the  Duke  Galeazzo  Maria  had 
formed  the  plan  of  erecting  an  equestrian  monument 
in  honour  of  the  founder  of  his  dynasty.  This  first 
attempt  miscarried.  And  Lodovico  Moro  intended 
to  execute  the  plan  as  a  legacy  of  his  predecessor. 

Unfortunately  we  do  not  possess  sufficient  evidence 
as  regards  the  various  incidents  which  took  place 
during  the  progress  of  the  work.  Only  here  and  there 
a  short  note  sheds  uncertain  light  on  the  course  of 
events.  The  mind  of  the  Duke  was  bent  on  achieving 
something  extraordinary.  "  His  Excellency  desires 
something  superlative  "  (una  cosa  in  superlativo 
grado),  wrote  a  correspondent  to  Lorenzo  de  Medici 
in  1489.  Doubtless  he  intended  to  surpass  all  the 
equestrian  statues  then  known,  especially  those  of 
more  recent  date  in  Ferrara  and  Padua,  and  the  one 
in  course  of  preparation  in  Venice.  The  recorded 
height  of  more  than  seven  metres,  and  the  amount 
of  metal  to  be  used  in  casting  it,  speak  to  that  effect. 

Long  before  its  completion,  men  of  letters  began 
to  sing  the  praises  of  the  prince  who  had  undertaken 
such  a  work.  Finally  towards  the  end  of  this  decade 
the  monument  seems  to  have  been  so  far  advanced, 
that  Leonardo  could  ask  a  poet  about  the  inscription, 
which  was  destined  for  it.  At  the  last  moment, 
c8 


ftrautc  Clemf.iit. 


PORTRAIT   OF   ISABEIXA    D'ESTE  (?)  (LOUVRE). 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

however,  a  dispute  must  have  arisen  between  the  patron 
and  the  artist.  This  one  perceives  from  a  letter  which 
Petrus  Alamannus,  by  order  of  Lodovico  Moro, 
addressed  to  Lorenzo  de  Medici.  "  Would  his  Mag- 
nificence be  pleased  to  send  one  or  two  qualified 
artists  to  Milan.  For,  although  the  Duke  had 
given  the  commission  to  Leonardo,  he  was  apparently 
uncertain  whether  that  artist  would  be  able  to  complete 
it  for  him."    The  letter  is  dated  July  the  22nd,  1489. 

We  read  in  Vasari's  life  of  Antonio  Pollaiuolo 
that,  "  after  his  death  a  drawing  and  a  model  were 
found,  which  he  had  made  for  Ludovico  Sforza,  for 
the  equestrian  statue  of  Francesco  Sforza,  Duke  of 
Milan.  Two  variations  of  this  drawing  are  to  be 
found  in  our  book."  One  of  these  studies  of  Antonio 
Pollaiuolo  may  be  identified  in  a  drawing  in  Munich. 
Has  this  co-operation  of  the  eminent  sculptor  in 
bronze  on  the  monument  any  connexion  with  the 
letter  of  1489  and  so  with  the  dispute  which  threatened 
Leonardo's  work  ?  Up  to  the  present  we  do  not 
know. 

"  On  the  23rd  of  April,  1490,  I  began  this  book 
and  started  the  horse  afresh."  So  runs  a  note  in 
Leonardo's  handwriting  in  one  of  the  Paris  Manu- 
scripts. The  Duke  therefore  abandoned  his  plans, 
and  came  to  an  understanding  with  Leonardo.  The 
latter  recommenced  his  work.  Once  more  the  same 
comedy  was  played.  The  poets  sang  in  epigrams 
the  praises  of  the  Duke  Francesco,  of  il  Moro,  and  of 
the  artist.  In  anticipation,  Lancino  Curzio  described 
most  happily  the  festive  moment  when  the  ore  would 
pour  into  the  mould  and  the  divine  work  would  be 
presented  to  the  eyes  of  the  people. 

Expectant  animi,  molemque  futuram 
Suspiciunt  ;  Jiuat  aes  ;  vox  erit  "  Ecce  deusJ^^ 

19 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

The  model  was  finished.  But  the  times  were  not 
fit  for  its  execution  in  bronze.  Lodovico  Moro, 
ever  more  and  more  harassed  by  the  political  situation, 
had  not  the  means  to  complete  the  work,  which  was 
to  tell  posterity  of  the  glories  of  the  house  of  Sforza. 
In  the  fragment  of  a  letter  to  the  Duke,  Leonardo 
says,  I  will  not  speak  of  the  horse,  for  I  know  the 
times."    He  was  resigned. 

The  model  survived  the  overthrow  of  the  Duke 
and  the  beginning  of  the  French  domination  in  Milan. 
It  must  have  been  in  good  condition  as  late  as  1501. 
For  in  September  of  that  year  the  Duke  of  Ferrara, 
Ercole  d'Este,  who  wished  to  adorn  a  square  of  his 
capital  with  an  equestrian  figure,  applied  to  his  envoy 
in  Milan  to  secure  Leonardo's  model  for  that  purpose. 
But  he  received  an  evasive  answer.  This  is  the  last 
that  is  heard  of  Leonardo's  masterpiece  in  the  domain 
of  sculpture.  The  best  tradition  declares  that  the 
Gascon  archers  used  it  as  a  target.  Who  can  say 
whether  this  is  truth,  or  the  invention  of  political 
hate  ?  Besides,  what  does  it  matter  how  this  work  • 
perished,  since  as  regards  posterity  it  is  lost  once  and 
for  all  ?  It  is  a  tragic  fate  that,  of  the  two  works 
on  which  the  two  most  gifted  men  in  Italy  expended 
their  finest  powers,  one — Michel  Angelo's  Julius 
monument — ^was  only  partially  completed  and  has 
come  down  to  us  in  mutilated  form  ;  while  the  other — 
Leonardo's  Sforza  monument — can  scarcely  be  re- 
constructed even  with  the  help  of  the  preliminary 
studies. 

But  what  bitterness  must  Leonardo  have  felt 
once  in  Florence,  when  Michel  Angelo,  thinking 
that  he  had  been  mocked  by  the  elder  man,  who  had 
proposed  him  as  the  interpreter  of  a  passage  in  Dante, 
called  out  in  derision,  "  thou  hast  designed  an  eques- 
trian figure,  and  hast  wished  to  cast  it  in  bronze, 
20 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

but  since  thou  couldst  not,  thou  must  retire  in  shame 

and  dishonour." 

***** 

As  regards  many  of  the  other  artistic  works  which 
Leonardo  executed  by  command  of  Lodovico  Moro, 
only  trifling  information  has  reached  us.  Perhaps 
one  of  the  first  commissions  of  il  Moro  was  that  for 
a  Madonna  for  Matthias  Corvinus,  King  of  Hungary, 
which  is  mentioned  in  a  dispatch  of  April  13,  1485, 
sent  to  the  ambassador  at  that  king's  court.  The 
picture  of  the  Madonna  is  missing,  and  it  is  entirely 
unknown  whether  it  was  completed  and  sent  to 
Matthias  Corvinus  or  not.  Similarly  the  portraits 
of  the  two  ladies  who  were  successive  objects  of  the 
Duke's  favour — Cecilia  Gallerani  and  Lucrezia  Crivelli 
— have  not  hitherto  been  identified.  • 

Concerning  the  portrait  of  "  la  Gallerani,"  we 
possess  an  interesting  correspondence  which  passed 
between  Isabella  d'Este,  the  refined  Marchesa  of 
Mantua,  and  the  Milanese  lady.  Several  fine  portraits 
from  the  brush  of  Giovanni  Bellini  had  arrived  in 
Mantua.  This  fact  called  forth  remarks  on  the  art 
of  Leonardo,  and  produced  a  keen  desire  to  see 
pictures  of  both  masters  side  by  side.  Accordingly 
Isabella  sent  a  courier  to  Milan  to  Donna  Cecilia, 
begging  her  to  lend  her  portrait  by  Leonardo  for  a 
short  time.  The  Marchesa  made  this  request  in  a 
note  of  April  26,  1498.  In  return  the  lady  replied 
that  she  would  gladly  send  the  picture,  which, 
however,  no  longer  resembled  her ;  not  indeed 
through  any  fault  of  the  master,  whose  equal,  in 
her  opinion,  could  not  be  found,  but  owing  to 
the  fact  that  the  portrait  had  been  painted  at 
an  age  when  she  was  still  undeveloped,  and  that 
she  had  greatly  changed  since.  This  correspond- 
ence admits  the  inference  that  Leonardo  must  have 


21 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

painted  that  portrait  at  the  beginning  of  his  career 
in  Milan. 

Even  in  the  absence  of  direct  evidence,  it  must 
have  been  assumed  that  Lodovico  employed  the 
greatest  artist  at  his  court  on  the  works  which  served 
to  decorate  the  Castello  Sforzesco  in  Milan.  As  it  is, 
we  possess  direct  and  important  notices  of  Leonardo's 
activity  in  this  sphere  in  the  reports  of  the  Ducal 
officials  to  Moro.  From  them  we  learn  that,  during 
the  years  1495-8,  the  painter  worked  in  several  rooms — 
in  the  Saletta  negra,  the  Sala  del  Tesoro,  and  the 
Camera  grande  delle  asse  (so  called  from  the  wood- 
panelling  of  the  walls).  During  the  work,  a  deep 
annoyance  on  the  part  of  Leonardo,  traces  of  which 
may  be  found  in  casual  remarks  in  his  manuscripts, 
must  have  given  rise  to  a  violent  outburst.  For, 
on  June  8,  1496,  Lodovico  wrote  to  Arcimboldi, 
Archbishop  of  Milan,  who  was  staying  in  Venice, 
that  the  artist  who  was  painting  the  rooms  for  him 
had  on  that  day  made  a  great  uproar,  and  in  conse- 
quence had  departed.  Would  his  Reverence  com- 
municate with  Pietro  Perugino,  who  was  reported 
to  be  in  Venice,  and  ask  him  whether  he  was  ready 
to  enter  the  Duke's  service,  &:c.  .  .  .  But  the 
Archbishop  could  only  reply  that  the  desired 
painter  had  already  left  Venice  six  months  before. 
Lodovico,  however,  was  not  yet  satisfied,  and  in 
the  following  year  addressed  himself  in  two  letters 
to  the  Baglioni  of  Perugia.  Would  they  be  good 
enough  to  induce  Perugino  to  come  to  Milan,  as  he 
wished  to  employ  him  on  certain  works  which  he  had 
in  mind. 

It  is,  of  course,  by  no  means  necessary  to  deter- 
mine from  this  the  duration  of  the  quarrel  between 
the  prince  and  the  painter.  Leonardo  was  at  this 
very  time  busily  engaged  on  the  Last  Swpfer.  On  that 
22 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

account,  perhaps,  the  works  in  the  rooms  of  the 
Castello  were  for  a  time  at  a  standstill. 

Not  until  1498  do  we  again  hear  of  the  rooms. 
Then  the  official  can  at  length  inform  the  Duke 
(April  21)  that  "  no  time  will  be  lost  on  the  Saletta 
negra,  and  on  Monday  the  scaffold  will  be  taken  down 
in  the  Camera  grande  delle  asse.  Messer  Leonardo 
promises  to  complete  them  by  the  end  of  September." 
With  this  note  the  direct  tidings  cease. 

At  the  present  day,  it  is  impossible  to  form  an 
adequate  notion  of  Leonardo's  productions  in  this 
line.  Recent  researches  have  disclosed  flying  Loves 
on  the  ceiling  of  one  room,  and  in  another  a  large 
fresco  painting,  with  a  male  figure  in  the  middle 
painted  in  antique  style.  But  these  works  differ 
too  widely  from  the  recognized  pictures  of  the  Master 
to  be  attributed  to  him  with  certainty. 

The  decoration  of  the  walls  and  ceiling  in  the 
Sala  delle  asse  is  certainly  conceived  in  Leonardo's 
style.  It  represents  lofty  trees,  whose  closely  inter- 
laced branches  are  entwined  with  golden  cords, 
while  their  leaves  form  a  dense  canopy  on  the  ceiling. 
This  charming  scheme  of  decoration  has  lately  been 
appreciatively  restored. 

When  did  Leonardo  execute  that  great  work  which 
has  invested  his  name  with  enduring  renown  ?  On 
this  point  too  we  have  only  scanty  information.  It  is 
clear  that  a  composition  like  the  Last  Supper,  with 
its  myriad  refinements  in  the  portrayal  of  character, 
must  in  any  case  represent  the  result  of  several  years' 
work ;  especially  if  we  take  into  account  Leonardo's 
natural  predisposition  to  work  slowly,  and  to  allow 
longer  and  longer  pauses  to  intervene,  in  order  that 
each  picture  might  be  fully  matured. 

A  novel  of  Bandello  records  for  us  the  genesis  of 
the  Last  Supper,  and  introduces  us  with  graphic 

23 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

description  into  the  very  scene  of  the  painter's  work. 
One  day  several  noblemen  were  standing  in  the 
refectory  of  Santa  Maria  delle  Grazie,  contemplating 
the  work  in  progress,  when  the  old  Cardinal  of  Gurk, 
who  at  that  time  was  residing  in  the  monastery, 
came  in.  They  began  to  discuss  art  subjects  ;  and 
in  the  course  of  conversation  his  eminence  asked  the 
artist  what  pay  he  was  receiving  from  the  Duke. 
Leonardo  named  a  sum  which  to  the  Cardinal  appeared 
very  great.  On  his  departure,  Leonardo  recounted 
an  adventure  which  had  befallen  Fra  Filippo  Lippi. 
This  very  story  Bandello  has  incorporated  in  his 
collection  of  novels.  There  must  be  some  truth  in 
the  anecdote  with  which  he  invested  it,  as  in  fact  the 
Cardinal  was  dwelling  incognito  in  the  Monastery 
delle  Grazie  at  the  end  of  January  1497. 

In  the  same  year  we  have  other  news  of  Leonardo's 
work  in  the  refectory.  On  June  29,  1497,  Lodovico 
Moro  writes  to  his  secretary  as  follows  :  "  Further, 
remind  Leonardo,  the  Florentine,  to  complete  the 
work  that  he  has  begun  in  the  refectory  of  Santa 
Maria  delle  Grazie,  in  order  that  he  may  thereafter 
begin  work  on  the  other  wall  of  the  refectory.  Make 
arrangements  with  him  in  writing,  which  he  is  to 
sign  with  his  own  hand,  obliging  him  to  finish  the 
work  at  the  time  agreed  on."  In  the  same  year  may 
be  found  a  payment  to  an  architect  "  for  work  in 
the  refectory,  where  Leonardo  is  painting  the  Apostle, 
with  a  window." 

Princely  patrons  do  not  like  waiting.  They  would 
like  to  see  works  of  art  rise  as  from  the  touch  of  a 
wizard's  hands.  Just  in  this  point  lies  so  often  the 
cause  of  disputes  between  the  Maecenas  and  the 
artist.  Leonardo  was  less  fitted  than  any  other  to 
submit  to  impatience  and  pressure.  Evidently  the 
Duke  had  had  many  disagreeable  experiences,  and 

24 


naersojt. 


ST.  JEROME  (VATICAN). 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

believed  that  only  a  written  engagement  could  bind 
the  artist  to  steady  work.  Was  he  deceived  ?  We 
know  not,  but  are  forced  to  suppose  that  the  Last 
Suffer  was  finished  at  the  beginning  of  1498,  if  an 
allusion  to  the  work  in  the  dedication  of  Luca  Pacioli's 
"  de  divina  proportione  "  is  to  be  taken  literally. 

How  it  came  about  that  the  Last  Suffer  fell  to  ruin 
has  been  told  often  and  exhaustively.  All  too  soon, 
even  in  Leonardo's  lifetime,  external  influences  and 
the  defects  inherent  in  the  technique  employed 
asserted  themselves,  so  that  Vasari  already  saw  nothing 
but  "  a  dull  blur."  The  indifference  and  ignorance 
of  mankind  have  left  nothing  undone  to  increase  the 
evil.  It  was  not  until  the  nineteenth  century  that 
any  effort  was  made  to  preserve  the  remains  as  much 
as  possible  in  the  same  state,  in  order  that  the  precious 
inheritance  may  not  utterly  perish. 

^  ^  ^  ^  1^ 

Besides  these  chief  works  for  the  Duke,  the  services 
of  the  artist  were  claimed  elsewhere.  He  evidently 
undertook  similar  private  commissions  to  gain  the 
necessary  means  of  subsistence  for  himself  and  his 
helpers,  when  the  payments  from  the  State  Exchequer 
were  not  forthcoming.  "  For  two  years,"  he  was; 
once  obliged  to  complain,"  I  have  received  no  pay- 
ment." The  most  important  picture,  next  to  the 
Last  Suffer,  which  Leonardo  executed  in  Milan,  mani- 
festly did  not  owe  its  existence  to  a  commission  from 
his  princely  patron.  This  picture  is  the  famous  Vierge 
aux  rochers.  Together  with  Ambrogio  de  Predis,  the 
master  had  undertaken  it  as  an  altar  decoration  for 
the  Brotherhood  of  the  Conception  in  San  Francesco. 
It  was  to  consist  of  a  richly  gilded  relief  with  figures, 
a  picture  of  the  Madonna  and  two  pictures  of  angels. 

But  the  artists  and  patrons  came  to  a  dispute  over 

25 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

the  question  of  payment.    In  consequence,  the  former 
appealed  to  the  arbitration  of  the  Duke.  Their 
petition  is  extant,  but  unfortunately  undated.  From 
this  it  appears  that  the  picture  of  the  Madonna  had 
been  done  by  the  Florentine  painter,  who  demanded 
one  hundred  ducats  for  it  from  the  other  party.  They 
on  their  side  estimated  its  value  at  only  a  quarter  of 
this  amount.    The  petitioners  claimed  from  the  Duke 
either  a  court  of  arbitration  or  the  return  of  the 
picture.    As  to  the  outcome  of  this  affair  we  have  no 
documentary  evidence.    But  from  the  fact  that  two 
copies  of  the  Vierge  aux  tochers  exist,  one  of  which 
betrays  Leonardo's  own  hand,  while  the  other  must 
have  been  painted  under  his  eyes,  we  may  conclude 
that  they  did  not  come  to  an  agreement,  and  that  the 
artist  took  back  his  work  to  dispose  of  it  to  one  of 
those  who  were  willing  to  pay  the  price  demanded. 
This  copy  passed  soon  after  into  the  possession  of  the 
King  of  France,  and  is  now  one  of  the  finest  gems  in 
the  gallery  of  the  Louvre.    The  monks,  however, 
bethought  themselves  later  and  secured  a  reproduction 
of  the  picture  for  their  altar.    This  second  version 
remained  in  that  very  spot  right  up  to  the  end  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  and  then  by  a  devious  course 
reached  the  National  Gallery.    Probability  in  the 
interpretation  of  the  facts,  and  the  evidence  of  the 
eye,  obtained  by  a  careful  scrutiny  of  both  pictures, 
alike  sanction  this  conclusion. 

During  Leonardo's  residence  in  Milan,  the  question 
of  completing  the  Cathedral  again  entered  on  an  acute 
stage.  This  time  the  subject  under  discussion  was  the 
dome,  and  the  ablest  architects  were  drawn  to  Milan 
to  give  professional  opinions  or  to  make  models.  In 
a  matter  of  this  kind,  in  which  technical  questions 
26 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

played  a  decisive  part,  it  was  inevitable  that  the  voice 
of  Leonardo  would  have  great  weight.  For  he  had 
hy  preference  busied  himself  with  such  subjects.  In 
fact  he  was  called  upon  to  send  in  a  model,  for  which 
payments  may  be  found  recorded  in  the  papers  of  the 
Cathedral  Building  Committee  (1487).  Three  years 
later  Leonardo  secured  the  return  of  this  model,  but 
immediately  after  he  received  payments  for  a  new 
model  of  a  dome.  How  far  he  completed  this  cannot 
be  clearly  ascertained. 

In  the  same  year  (1490)  in  which  this  question  was 
discussed,  Leonardo  journeyed  to  Pavia  in  the  com- 
pany of  the  great  architect  Francesco  di  Giorgio. 
The  object  of  their  journey  was  to  give  professional 
advice  on  the  continuation  of  the  Cathedral.    In  the 

Codex  Atlanticus  "  are  to  be  found  not  a  few  archi- 
tectural sketches — elevations,  transverse  sections,  and 
ground  plans — which  plainly  belong  to  the  Lombardic 
order.  For  us  these  represent  the  only  trace  of  the 
intense  energy  which  Leonardo  bestowed  on  two  of 
the  most  imposing  buildings  of  his  adopted  state. 

#  4f:  #  #  # 

As  sculptor,  as  painter,  as  architect,  he  thus  found 
a  rich  field  for  his  activity  at  Moro's  court.  At  the 
same  time  he  had  to  find  leisure,  when  required,  to 
use  his  inventive  skill  in  devising  amusements  for  the 
princely  circle.  We  have  accounts  of  two  such  occa- 
sions. Early  in  February,  1489,  at  the  marriage  of 
Gian  Galeazzo  Sforza  and  Isabella,  daughter  of 
Alphonso  of  Naples,  took  place  the  masque  of  "  Para- 
dise."   It  is  so  called  in  a  contemporary  description, 

because  through  the  genius  and  art  of  Leonardo, 
Paradise,  with  the  seven  planets,  was  shown,  the 
planets  being  represented  by  men  attired  as  the  poets 
describe  them."    Two  years  later  Leonardo  managed 

27 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 


a  tournament  in  the  house  of  Galeazzo  San  Severino. 
All  that  we  know  of  this  is  that  several  lackeys  took 
part  in  it,  clad  as  savages. 

***** 

Hitherto  we  have  spoken  of  the  public  career  of 
Leonardo.  Its  practical  side — his  highly  important 
work  on  the  canalization  of  Lombardy — cannot  be 
dealt  with  in  this  book.  Of  his  private  life,  and  of  his 
intense  activity  in  all  branches  of  science,  his  own 
writings  tell  us.  During  the  years  he  spent  in  Milan 
he  wrote  his  "  Treatise  on  painting  " — the  most 
important  theoretical  work  on  Art  that  ever  came 
from  the  hand  of  an  artist.  At  that  time  too  he  wrote 
"  on  the  human  figure  "  and  much  besides.  He 
sought  the  society  of  the  learned,  especially  that  of 
the  medical  lecturers  in  Pavia,  and  of  mathematicians 
and  philosophers. 

But  if  we  consider  the  art  works  which  Leonardo 
executed  in  Milan  during  sixteen  years  of  his  life's 
prime,  his  splendid  and  incomparable  powers  seem  to 
have  been  wasted  and  inadequately  employed  through 
the  ill-will  of  Fate.  He  made  his  model  for  the 
equestrian  statue  ;  he  painted  the  Last  Supper  and  the 
Vierge  aux  rochets^  perhaps  also  several  decorations  in 
the  Castello.  But  his  main  work  which  had  cost  the 
most  time,  was  fashioned  only  in  a  perishable  material 
and  was  all  too  soon  destroyed.  How  fortunate  in  the 
plenitude  of  his  creations  appears  even  Michel  Angelo's 
tragic  figure,  compared  with  Leonardo  ! 

That  he  did  not  accomplish  more  was  due  partly  to 
his  intense  thirst  for  knowledge  in  every  form,  partly 
to  the  Duke  and  the  fateful  events  which  in  the  end 
brought  about  his  downfall.  The  man  who  invited 
the  foreigner  into  Italy  was  finally  caught  in  his  own 
trap.  The  year  1499  saw  the  outburst  of  the  storm 
28 


HEAD   OF   JUDAS  (WINDSOR) 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

whose  threatening  signs  had  long  before  appeared  in 
the  political  sky.  Leonardo  had  already  experienced 
the  malice  of  events  in  the  irregularity  of  his  pay.  For 
this  the  Duke,  who  was  by  nature  a  generous  prince, 
tried  to  compensate  him  by  gifts  of  land  near  Milan. 

Lodovico's  power  collapsed  when  the  French  army 
descended  into  Lombardy.  The  Duke  fled  and  his 
state  fell  without  a  struggle  into  the  hands  of  the 
victor.  Only  six  months  later  followed  the  tragic 
conclusion — Lodovico's  imprisonment.  Already  it  was 
clear  to  people  of  discernment  that  the  period  of  splen- 
dour was  over.  For  the  artists  and  men  of  letters 
whom  the  Duke  had  assembled  at  his  court,  nothing 
remained  but  to  seek  a  new  position  elsewhere. 

Leonardo  sent  his  savings,  amounting  to  several 
hundred  ducats,  to  Florence,  to  the  hospital  of  Santa 
Maria  Nuova  (December  the  14th,  1499).  He  him- 
self, before  returning  to  his  native  city,  went  eastwards 
to  Venice.  Regarding  his  first  residence  in  Milan  and 
Lodovico's  undertakings,  Leonardo  has  written  :  "  The 
Duke  lost  state,  possessions  and  liberty,  and  no  work 
was  completed  for  him."  What  a  bitter  summary  of 
a  period,  on  which  he  had  entered  full  of  hope,  ready 
to  accomplish  wonders  ! 

*  #  #  #  # 

The  return  of  his  old  lord  to  Milan,  to  a  rule  which 
lasted  little  more  than  two  months,  did  not  induce 
Leonardo  to  resume  his  abandoned  work.  In  March 
he  was  in  Venice.  But  before  that  he  had  made  a 
stay  in  Mantua,  where  he  had  sketched  the  portrait  of 
the  young  princess  who  represents  for  posterity  the 
climax  of  aesthetic  culture  in  Italy  at  the  beginning  of 
the  High  Renaissance.  Isabella  d'Este,  whose  ambi- 
tion it  was  to  hold  relations  with  all  the  eminent  artists 
of  her  country,  who  surrounded  herself  with  pictures 

29 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

by  Mantegna,  Bellini,  Perugino,  Correggio  and  Costa, 
and  sat  for  her  portrait  to  the  best  masters,  had  not 
failed  to  take  advantage  of  the  brief  stay  of  the  Floren- 
tine, with  whom  she  had  been  acquainted  in  earlier 
years  in  Milan.  On  the  13th  March,  1500,  a  confi- 
dential correspondent  wrote  to  the  Princess  from 
Venice,  "  Leonardo  Vinci  is  here,  and  has  shown  me 
a  portrait  of  your  Highness  which  is  extremely  life- 
like.   It  could  not  have  been  done  better." 

Shortly  after  Leonardo  must  have  returned  to  his 
native  city.  The  moment  was  favourable  for  him. 
Of  the  eminent  artists  of  the  older  generation  many 
were  dead,  and  the  others  aged.  Not  one  was  able  to 
enliven  the  decaying  style  of  the  Quattrocento  with 
new  ideas.  But  instead  of  using  this  most  advan- 
tageous moment  to  secure  the  primacy  of  art  in 
Florence,  Leonardo  turned  his  back  on  art  and  devoted 
himself  to  his  manifold  scientific  studies,  especially  to 
mathematics  and  to  technical  engineering  questions 
such  as  the  regulation  of  the  Arno. 

A  year  had  passed  since  his  visit  to  Venice,  when 
Isabella  d'Este  applied  to  a  priest  of  the  Carmelite 
order,  whom  she  knew  (March  the  17th,  1501).  She 
wished  to  know  what  manner  of  life  Leonardo  was 
leading,  whether  it  was  true  that  he  had  begun  a  work 
and  of  what  kind  it  was.  The  holy  father  was  to 
ascertain  "  whether  he  is  inclined  to  paint  a  picture  in 
our  studio.  If  he  consents,  we  will  leave  the  invention 
and  the  time  to  his  decision.  If  he  is  reluctant,  try 
at  least  to  induce  him  to  paint  for  us  a  small  picture  of 
the  Madonna,  pious  and  sweet,  as  is  his  style.  And 
then  ask  him  to  send  us  a  new  sketch  (Schizzo)  of  our 
portrait.  For  his  Highness,  our  consort,  has  given 
away  the  one  which  he  left  for  us  here." 

Isabella  rarely  showed  so  much  complaisance  to  an 
artist  as  she  did  to  Leonardo.    For  as  a  rule,  she 

30 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

plagued  the  greatest  masters  with  the  impossible  task 
of  putting  her  quaint  allegorical  ideas  into  artistic 
form.  She  probably  anticipated  that  a  man  of 
Leonardo's  character  would  otherwise  refuse  to  do 
anything  for  her. 

The  answer  that  she  received  is  one  of  the  most 
important  documents  on  Leonardo's  mode  of  life, 
while  at  the  same  time  it  throws  light  on  one  of  his 
masterpieces.  Accordingly  it  may  find  place  here 
unabridged  :  "  Leonardo's  life  is  changeful  and  un- 
certain ;  it  is  thought  that  he  lives  only  for  the  day. 
Since  he  has  been  in  Florence,  he  has  worked  only  on 
one  cartoon.  This  represents  an  infant  Christ  of 
about  one  year,  who  freeing  Himself  from  His  mother's 
arms,  seizes  a  lamb  and  seems  to  clasp  it.  The  Mother 
is  rising  from  the  lap  of  St.  Anna  to  catch  the  Child 
and  part  Him  from  the  lamb — the  victim,  which 
signifies  the  Passion.  St.  Anna  is  just  rising  from  her 
seat,  as  though  she  would  restrain  her  daughter  from 
parting  the  lamb  and  the  Child.  This  perhaps 
signifies  the  Church,  which  will  not  that  Christ's 
passion  be  hindered.  The  figures  are  of  life  size,  but 
form  only  a  small  sketch,  as  they  are  all  sitting  or 
stooping,  and  one  stands  to  the  left  front  of  the  other. 
The  study  is  not  yet  complete.  He  has  done  nothing 
else,  except  that  he  now  and  then  touches  one  or 
other  of  the  portraits  which  his  two  assistants  are 
painting.  He  is  entirely  wrapped  up  in  geometry  and 
has  no  patience  for  painting." 

Vasari  also  speaks  of  the  making  of  this  cartoon. 
According  to  him,  Leonardo  wished  to  paint  the 
picture  for  the  high  altar  of  the  Church  of  the  Annun- 
ciation. On  this  Filippino,  who  had  already  received 
a  commission  for  the  work,  retired,  and  Leonardo 
began  his  cartoon  of  St.  Anna.  When  it  was  finished, 
the  room  where  it  stood  was  crowded  for  two  days  by 

31 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

men  and  women,  old  and  young,  who  were  amazed  at 
the  marvellous  work.  So  far  Vasari.  Leonardo,  how- 
ever, failed  to  complete  the  altarpiece.  Thereupon 
the  monks  returned  to  Filippino,  who  then  began  his 
Descent  jrom  the  Cross,  but  did  not  finish  it,  as  death 
struck  the  brush  from  his  hand.  His  picture  was 
completed  by  Perugino,  and  now  hangs  in  the  Floren- 
tine Academy. 

Almost  exactly  a  year  later  the  Carmelite  could 
inform  Isabella  of  a  visit  which  he  paid  to  Leonardo 
on  Easter  Wednesday,  April  the  4th,  1502.  He  had 
been  introduced  by  Leonardo's  most  confidential  pupil, 
Salai,  and  by  several  other  of  his  intimate  friends. 
The  artist  showed  himself  ready  to  serve  the  Princess. 
He  must,  however,  get  free  from  his  engagement  to 
the  French  King,  without  falling  into  disgrace.  This 
he  hoped  to  be  able  to  do  within  a  month  at  most. 
As  soon  as  he  had  finished  a  small  picture  which  he 
was  painting  for  a  certain  Robertet,  the  French  King's 
favourite,  he  would  straightway  take  the  portrait  in 
hand  and  send  it  to  her  Excellency.  "  The  small 
picture  that  he  is  painting  is  a  Madonna  sitting  as  if 
she  is  spinning.  The  Child  is  putting  His  foot  in  the 
spinning  basket.  He  has  seized  the  reel  and  is  atten- 
tively regarding  the  four  spokes,  which  stand  in  the 
form  of  a  cross,  and  laughing  as  though  He  would  have 
the  cross.  He  holds  it  fast  and  will  not  give  it  back 
to  His  Mother,  who  wishes  to  take  it  away  from  Him." 

Leonardo,  however,  never  got  further  than  promises. 
Isabella  received  then  just  as  little  as  she  did  several 
years  later  (i  504-1 506),  when  she  was  anxious  to  get 
a  twelve-year-old  Christ  from  the  painter,  whom  she — 
fruitlessly — reminded  of  the  promise  made  to  her  on 
his  visit  to  Mantua. 

*  *  *  * 

From  the  quiet  of  an  existence  filled  with  artistic 

32 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

and  scientific  work,  Leonardo  is  suddenly  found  trans- 
ported to  the  loud  turmoil  and  violent  agitation  of  the 
political  arena.  In  May  1502  he  was  still  in  Florence. 
Already  by  the  end  of  July  he  was  travelling  in  Umbria 
and  the  marches  in  the  service  of  the  man  whose  name 
filled  all  Italy  with  terror — ^the  Duke  Valentino, 
better  known  as  Cesare  Borgia.  Where  had  these 
two  most  extraordinary  figures  of  the  Renaissance  met 
— men  in  whom  all  the  aspirations  of  the  epoch  appear 
united  ?  When  Louis  XII  entered  Milan,  the  Borgia 
was  in  his  train.  At  that  time  Leonardo  had  not  yet 
left  the  city.  For  only  there  could  he  have  entered 
into  relations  vnth  the  French  King,  with  whose 
favour  he  would  not  trifle,  as  he  informed  Isabella's 
commissioner.  Vasari  tells  of  a  visit  of  the  King  to 
the  refectory  of  Santa  Maria  delle  Grazie,  and  of  his 
admiration  for  the  Last  Suffer,  Perhaps  Cesare  Borgia 
was  at  that  time  also  near  the  French  King  and  had 
learned  in  how  many  things  the  painter  was  versed. 

Admiration  for  genius  must  have  been  their  bond 
of  union.  For  on  Cesare  Borgia  also  Nature  had 
bestowed  unusual  gifts,  even  if  the  perversion  of  the 
same  into  just  as  many  vices  makes  his  figure  appear 
only  terrible  to  posterity.  They  might  have  stood  in. 
the  same  relation  as  did  Michel  Angelo  and  Julius  II 
a  few  years  later,  each  full  of  respect  for  that  which 
gave  importance  to  the  other. 

The  order  is  still  extant  which  Cesare  Borgia  gave 
the  Florentine  for  his  journey,  commending  him  to 
the  commandants  of  his  fortresses  and  to  his  chief 
officers  in  the  field.  From  this  we  learn  that  he  had 
commissioned  Leonardo  to  inspect  the  strongholds  of 
the  state.  He  describes  him  as  "  prestantissimo  et 
dilectissimo  familiare  architetto  et  ingegnere  generale." 
In  a  short  time  Leonardo  traversed  the  whole  of 
Central  Italy  from  the  Adriatic  to  the  Tyrrhenian 

c  33 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

Sea.  But  his  activity  in  the  service  of  the  Borgia  was 
not  destined  to  be  of  long  duration.  In  April,  1503, 
at  the  latest  he  v^as  back  in  Florence. 

Now  at  length  the  citizens  of  his  native  city  be- 
thought themselves  of  the  duty  they  owed  to  such 
remarkable  artistic  powers,  and  resolved  to  give  them 
a  chance  of  proving  themselves  publicly.  Piero 
Soderini,  the  Gonfaloniere,  had  conceived  the  notion 
of  having  the  great  Council  Chamber  of  the  Signorial 
Palace  decorated  with  paintings.  It  was  intended  to 
begin  with  a  work  by  Leonardo,  and  to  assign  the 
second  fresco  to  Michel  Angelo.  The  theme  chosen 
for  representation  was  the  battle  of  Anghiari  (1440), 
in  which  the  Florentines  had  routed  the  Milanese 
troops  under  the  famous  condottiere  Niccolo  Piccinino. 
Leonardo  seems  to  have  worked  with  great  zest  on  the 
cartoon,  which  he  had  engaged  to  finish  before  the 
end  of  February  1505.  Scarcely  was  it  completed, 
when  he  began  to  paint  a  group  taken  from  it  on  the 
wall  of  the  Chamber.  This  group  was  The  Struggle 
for  the  Standard,  The  payments,  which  are  recorded, 
begin  on  April  the  ist,  1504,  and  last  until  the  second 
half  of  the  year  1505. 

The  task  assigned  him  suited  his  talents  admirably 
and  must  have  interested  him  more  than  anything 
else  that  he  had  ever  done.  Nevertheless,  though  he 
had  prepared  it  in  numerous  studies,  the  work  re- 
mained unfinished.  For  what  reason  ?  Perhaps  his 
zeal  cooled  from  the  moment  that  the  cartoon  was 
ended  ;  perhaps  also  there  were  technical  difficulties 
which  he  could  not  master  ;  or  perhaps  his  restless 
spirit  drove  him  to  some  other  occupation.  The 
picture  he  began  was  to  be  seen  for  a  long  time  after 
in  the  great  hall.  Though  merely  a  fragment,  it 
awakened  amazement  in  all  who  saw  it  ;  and  as  late 
as  15 13  a  scaffold  was  ordered  by  the  Signoria  to 

34 


Bi\j:.<c  Cle.}!Unt. 


HEAD   OF   A   WARRIOR    (BUDA  -  PESTH). 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

protect  the  figures.  When  it  entirely  perished  is 
unknown.  Perhaps  the  main  features  of  the  work 
were  still  visible,  when  Vasari  was  commissioned  to 
carry  out  what  Leonardo  and  Michel  Angelo  had 
failed  to  complete.  A  few  old  copies  give  at  least 
an  approximate  idea  of  the  central  group.  But  it  is 
no  longer  possible  to  gain  a  notion  of  the  whole 
picture,  as  the  cartoon  perished,  we  know  not  when  or 
how ;  while  of  the  many  who  studied  it,  not  one,  it 
seems,  ever  took  the  trouble  to  convey  the  whole  to 
posterity. 

^  ^  ^  ^ 

The  years  which  Leonardo  spent  at  this  time  in 
Florence,  namely  from  the  beginning  of  the  year  1503 
to  the  spring  of  1506,  must  be  regarded  as  the  period 
in  which  his  artistic  genius  produced  its  richest  fruits. 
In  addition  to  his  chief  work,  which  was  well  fitted  to 
absorb  the  energy  of  the  man  who  surpassed  all  others 
in  continuous  toil,  he  completed  several  other  pictures, 
entirely  different  in  subject  and  style.  Of  the  portrait 
of  Ginevra  Benci,  biographers  speak  with  high  admira- 
tion, which  unfortunately  is  confined  to  terms  too 
vague  to  give  us  any  idea  of  this  famous  picture.  At 
the  same  time  too  he  painted  the  portrait  of  Mona 
Lisa,  wife  of  Francesco  del  Giocondo,  on  which,  if 
Vasari  has  rightly  informed  us,  the  artist  worked  for 
four  years. 

Just  at  this  time  also  in  Florence  he  must  have  made 
the  first  sketch  of  his  half-length  figure  of  Saint  John, 
and  designed  his  Leda,  She  is  shown  standing  near 
the  Swan,  who  is  nestling  close  to  her.  Curiously 
enough,  only  slight  information  about  this  work  is 
found  recorded  in  Leonardo's  native  city.  In  those 
days,  however,  there  was  staying  in  Florence  a  young 
stranger,  who  had  come  from  his  home  in  Urbino  to 
study  painting,  fascinated  by  the  art  of  Leonardo  and 

35 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 


Michel  Angelo,  and  qualified  as  none  other  among  the 
greatest  artists.  The  young  Raphael  then  drew  a  pen 
and  ink  sketch  after  the  Leda^  which  affords  us  sure 
ground  for  fixing  the  approximate  date  of  that 
composition. 

Two  events  of  this  date  deserve  particular  promi- 
nence. At  the  end  of  January,  1504,  took  place  the 
memorable  gathering  of  artists  who  were  to  decide  on 
a  site  for  Michel  Angelo's  David.  Of  the  older  masters 
might  be  seen  Andrea  della  Robbia,  Rosselli,  Filippino 
Lippi,  Botticelli,  Perugino,  Credi  and  many  others. 
Leonardo  could  not  be  absent  from  such  an  illustrious 
assembly.  Besides  in  the  extant  minutes  his  opinion 
is  recorded,  giving  his  support  to  Giuliano  da  San 
Gallo,  who  proposed  that  the  David  should  be  placed 
in  the  Loggia  dei  Signori — known  later  as  the  Loggia 
dei  Lanzi. 

Another  noteworthy  fact  is  the  death  of  Leonardo's 
father  on  July  the  9th,  1504.  Ser  Piero  and  his  son 
must  always  have  remained  on  good  terms.  A  frag- 
ment of  a  letter  is  preserved  in  the  Codex  Atlanticus  " 
which  reveals  the  son's  good  relations  with  his  father. 
In  the  same  collection  also  is  found  the  entry, 
"  Wednesday,  July  9th,  1504,  at  seven  o'clock  died 
Ser  Piero  da  Vinci." 

In  the  midst  of  his  active  labours  Leonardo  received 
a  summons  from  Milan.  The  call  to  the  artist  seems 
to  have  come  from  Carle  d'Amboise,  the  governor  of 
the  town.  Before  he  could  get  away,  Leonardo  was 
obliged  to  come  to  an  agreement  with  the  Signoria  of 
Florence.  The  terms  were  settled  by  a  contract, 
drawn  up  in  due  form  (May  30th,  1506),  whereby 
after  three  months  he  was  again  to  place  himself  at 
the  service  of  the  Signoria,  under  penalty  of  a  fine. 
But  in  August,  d'Amboise  applied  to  his  masters  in 
Florence,  requesting  permission  to  extend  the  time  to 

56 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

September,  in  order  that  the  artist  might  complete  a 
work  which  he  had.  begun  for  him.  The  appointed 
time  elapsed.  Instead  of  the  painter  came  a  renewal 
of  the  request.  This  time  an  angry  refusal  was  sent 
in  answer  by  Soderini,  who  felt  responsible  to  the 
state,  as  probably  he  had  proposed  Leonardo  as 
painter  of  the  fresco  in  the  Signorial  Palace.  At 
length  in  the  middle  of  December  Leonardo  was  ready 
to  return  home.  D'Amboise  gave  him  a  letter  of 
recommendation,  couched  in  terms  of  the  highest 
praise,  perhaps  with  a  view  to  protect  him  from 
punishment. 

But  again  a  delay  occurred.  A  small  picture  by 
Leonardo  had  been  sent  to  the  French  court  and, 
coming  under  the  notice  of  Louis  XII,  awoke  in  the 
King  a  wish  to  employ  the  artist  on  his  own  account. 
He  desired  to  have  pictures  of  the  Madonna  and  other 
works,  while  he  even  thought  of  having  his  own 
portrait  painted  by  him.  The  Florentine  envoy  at 
the  Court  of  Blois,  Pandolfini,  at  once  wrote  to  the 
Signoria  (January  the  12th,  1507)  to  acquaint  them 
with  the  wish  of  the  sovereign.  A  few  days  later  the 
King  himself  addressed  the  Signoria  with  the  request 
that  they  would  command  Leonardo  not  to  leave 
Milan  until  his  own  arrival  there.  Accordingly 
nothing  was  left  to  the  Florentines  but  to  write  to 
Leonardo  to  this  effect  on  January  the  22nd.  Still, 
more  than  half  a  year  passed  before  the  Master  came 
back  to  his  native  city.  He  had  spent  part  of  the 
time  preceding  his  return  in  the  country  near  Milan 
at  Vaprio,  the  home  of  Francesco  Melzi,  the  favourite 
pupil  of  his  later  years. 

4{*  ^  ^  ^ 

Of  the  fortunes  of  Leonardo  during  the  period  of 
his  decline,  we  are  not  so  accurately  informed  as  we 

37 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 


could  wish,  in  order  to  have  Hght  thrown  on  even  the 
most  important  occurrences.  With  just  as  little  cer- 
tainty do  we  know  what  artistic  work  Leonardo  really 
did  at  that  time  in  Milan,  and  the  nature  of  his  work 
for  D'Amboise.  We  may  probably  assign  this  date 
to  a  sketch  in  the  grandest  style — the  plan  of  a  splendid 
tomb  in  marble  and  bronze,  surmounted  by  an 
equestrian  statue,  destined  for  the  French  Marshal 
Gian  Giacomo  Trivulzio.  Numerous  studies  bear 
witness  of  its  origin  in  Leonardo's  mind.  But  it  is 
impossible  to  settle  exactly  the  time  when  he  was 
engaged  on  this  work,  or  to  decide  how  far  the  plan 
advanced. 

Leonardo's  return  to  Florence  was  brought  about 
by  a  lawsuit  with  his  brothers,  which  arose  through 
the  will  of  an  uncle.  Already  at  his  father's  death  the 
brothers  had  excluded  the  eldest  son,  and  now 
sought  to  gain  advantage  over  him  in  the  same  way. 
Leonardo  appeared  at  home,  supported  by  a  letter 
from  Louis  XII  to  the  Signoria,  who  were  therein 
requested  to  expedite  the  business  as  much  as  possible. 
Carle  d'Amboise  supported  the  painter  equally 
warmly.  Nevertheless  Leonardo  further  appealed,  in 
a  letter  from  Florence,  dated  September  the  i8th, 
1507,  to  the  Cardinal  Hippolito  d'Este — then  Arch- 
bishop of  Milan — begging  him  to  use  his  influence  with 
the  official  in  whose  hands  the  affair  rested. 

During  his  detention  in  Florence  on  this  business, 
he  took  up  his  abode  in  the  Casa  Martelli,  to  whose 
owner,  Piero  di  Braccio  Martelli,  he  was  bound  by  a 
common  interest  in  mathematics.  There,  on  the  22nd 
of  March,  1508,  he  began  one  of  his  manuscripts — a 
species  of  transcript  from  various  other  of  his  Collec- 
tanea, put  together  without  order,  with  the  intention 
of  sorting  the  materials  when  opportunity  offered. 
The  anonymous  biographer  of  Leonardo,  who  plainly 

38 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

had  reliable  information  about  his  life,  tells  us  that 
Leonardo  lived  in  the  Via  Martelli,  in  the  house  of 
Giovanni  Francesco  Rustici,  the  sculptor.  Vasari 
informs  us  that  Leonardo  helped  him,  at  least  with 
advice,  in  the  casting  of  the  three  figures  v^hich  v^ere 
destined  to  adorn  the  Baptistery.  Still  these  vague 
statements  receive  a  certain  amount  of  confirmation 
from  the  fact  that  Rustici  v^as  actually  engaged  on  the 
group  at  the  time  of  Leonardo's  stay  in  Florence.  He 
had  received  the  commission  for  it  at  the  end  of  1506. 
Its  style  betrays  a  singularly  intimate  acquaintance 
with  Leonardo's  forms  and  types.  So  there  is  no 
reason  to  deny  that  Rustici  received  some  assistance, 
which  of  course  may  have  been  limited  to  verbal 
criticism  and  advice. 

Without  doubt  Leonardo  himself  worked  in  Florence 
for  his  then  patron,  the  King  of  France.  But  it  is 
doubtful  whether  he  had  really  taken  with  him  the 
canvas,  mentioned  by  d'Amboise  in  his  letter,  through 
which  the  painter  found  the  greatest  difficulty  in 
obtaining  leave  to  travel.  Equally  uncertain  is  the 
question  whether  the  three  drafts  of  letters  in  the 
"  Codex  Atlanticus,"  in  which  Leonardo  speaks  of 
two  pictures  of  the  Madonna  that  he  had  begun, 
belong  to  this  year  or  must  be  assigned  a  later  date. 
Not  until  the  autumn  of  the  year  1508  is  Leonardo 
again  traceable  in  Milan. 

Deeper  and  deeper  is  the  darkness  which  shrouds 
the  incidents  of  Leonardo's  life  ;  ever  more  scanty 
becomes  the  extant  information  about  his  work.  It 
appears  that  the  "  peintre  du  Roy  "  had  been  busy 
with  the  question  of  utilizing  hydraulic  power.  He 
himself  had  received  the  concession  of  a  certain  water 
power  from  the  King.  In  October  15 10  his  artistic 
advice  was  again  solicited  by  the  Cathedral  Building 
Committee  on  the  subject  of  the  choir  stalls. 

39 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

Once  more  Milan  became  the  apple  of  discord 
between  the  nations.  Finally,  for  the  last  time  a 
scion  of  the  house  of  Sforze — Lodovico  Moro's  son 
Maximilian — entered  the  capital  of  Lombardy  as  ruler 
(15 12).  We  are  ignorant  of  the  attitude  adopted  by 
Leonardo  towards  the  son  of  his  earlier  master.  He 
was  now  official  court  painter  to  the  King  of  France. 
But  apparently  he  was  on  the  look-out  for  a  change  of 
position.  On  September  the  24th,  15 13,  he  left  Milan 
for  Rome,  accompanied  by  four  faithful  friends, 
among  whom  were  Melzi  and  Salai.  Probably  he 
knew  the  city  from  an  earlier  visit,  as  a  note  seems  to 
imply  that  he  had  been  there  in  1505.  This  time, 
however,  his  stay  extended  over  a  year  and  a  half. 
The  reception  which  Leonardo  met  with  in  Rome, 
where  the  Florentine  Giovanni  de  Medici  sat  on  the 
throne  of  St.  Peter  under  the  title  of  Leo  X,  seems  to 
have  been  worthy  of  that  great  name.  Rooms  were 
prepared  for  him  in  the  Belvedere — Bramante's  crea- 
tion, which  his  amazed  contemporaries  regarded  as 
the  sanctuary  of  Art.  Giuliano  Medici,  who  was 
scientifically  inclined,  laid  greater  claim  to  Leonardo's 
artistic  powers  than  his  brother  the  Pope.  But  what 
did  he  execute  for  the  young  prince  ?  We  only  know 
for  certain  of  the  portrait  of  a  Florentine  lady,  which 
a  few  years  later  found  its  way  to  France  with 
Leonardo.  Geometrical  studies  rather  than  artistic 
questions  absorbed  him. 

Vasari  mentions  two  pictures  which  he  painted  at 
that  time  for  the  Papal  Almoner,  Baldassare  Turini — 
a  Madonna  and  a  small  picture  of  a  Child.  The 
Aretine  saw  both  of  them  later  in  Pescia.  Moreover, 
he  is  said  to  have  begun  a  picture  for  the  Pope,  marked 
by  the  studied  care  and  accuracy  which  were  peculiar 
to  him.  None  of  these  pictures  can  be  traced  at  the 
present  time. 
40 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

On  January  the  9th,  15 15,  the  news  of  the  death  of 
Louis  XII  of  France  reached  Rome.  On  the  same 
day  Giuliano  Medici  left  the  city  on  a  journey  to 
Savoy,  where  he  married  the  Princess  Filiberta.  Both 
events  were  noted  down  by  Leonardo.  On  the  return 
of  the  young  couple  to  Rome  the  brilliant  court  life 
received  new  impulse,  and  Leonardo  was  to  be  found 
in  the  princely  circle.  Then  he  left  Rome  and  casual 
notes  give  a  clue  to  his  wanderings.  He  appears  at 
Piacenza.  He  seems  to  have  been  present  at  the 
meeting  between  Leo  X  and  Francis  I  at  Bologna 
(December  15 15).  The  name  of  Leonardo  must  have 
sounded  familiar  in  the  ear  of  the  young  French  King. 
Nothing  was  more  natural  than  the  desire  to  attach 
him  closely  to  his  own  person  as  his  predecessor  had 
done.  For  the  last  time  Leonardo  stopped  in  Milan. 
His  stay  was  very  brief,  and  he  prepared  for  his 
journey  over  the  Alps  into  a  foreign  land.  He  left 
Italy  for  the  first  time,  never  to  set  foot  on  its  soil 
again. 

#  *  m  #  #  - 

In  the  train  of  the  young  King  the  grey-haired 
artist  travelled  over  the  mountains  in  January,  15 16, 
and  hastened  with  him  through  France.  The  Chateau 
of  Cloux  near  Amboise  was  assigned  him  for  a  residence, 
and  a  really  princely  provision  was  made  for  him. 
Francis  I,  a  sincere  admirer  of  genius,  often  visited 
Leonardo  to  enjoy  his  conversation.  Even  in  later 
years  he  spoke  of  Leonardo's  many-sided  artistic  and 
philosophical  talents  with  lively  appreciation.  So  at 
least  Cellini  declares  in  his  autobiography. 

Devoted  to  scientific  studies,  Leonardo  spent  his 
days  in  perfecting  works  begun  in  earlier  life  to  the 
order  of  Francis  I.  This  conclusion  of  his  life  would 
be  for  us  a  rather  colourless  picture,  had  not  the 
account  of  a  visit  which  the  Cardinal  of  Aragon  paid 

41 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

in  Cloux  on  October  the  loth,  15 17,  been  handed 
down  to  us  hy  one  who  was  present,  and  so  preserved 
for  us  a  vivid  idea  of  the  great  man's  existence.  "  We 
visited  Messer  Leonardo  Vinci  of  Florence,  a  grey- 
beard of  more  than  seventy  years,  the  most  eminent 
painter  of  our  time,  who  showed  to  his  Eminence  the 
Cardinal  three  pictures.  One  represents  a  Florentine 
lady,  painted  from  life,  for  the  late  lord  Juliano  de 
Medici ;  the  second  is  a  youthful  John  the  Baptist  ; 
and  the  third,  a  Madonna  with  the  Child  sitting  on 
the  lap  of  Saint  Anna  ;  all  of  the  highest  perfection. 
One  cannot  indeed  expect  anything  more  of  special 
merit  from  his  brush,  as  his  right  hand  is  crippled  by 
paralysis.  But  he  has  a  pupil,  a  Milanese,  who  works 
very  well  :  and  although  Messer  Leonardo  can  no 
longer  paint  with  the  beauty  that  was  peculiar  to  him, 
he  can  still  draw  and  instruct  others.  This  gentleman 
has  written  quite  exhaustively  on  anatomy,  with 
illustrations  "...  (here  follow  further  remarks  on 
Leonardo's  manuscripts). 

The  Milanese  pupil  is  Francesco  Melzi,  who  in  his 
later  years  accompanied  the  Master  everywhere.  Two 
servants  attended  to  Leonardo's  personal  wants.  His 
other  faithful  pupil,  Salai,  had  remained  behind  in 
Milan. 

Of  the  three  above-mentioned  pictures  it  is  not 
possible  to  identify  the  lady's  portrait  with  any 
certainty.  The  Touthful  John  must  be  the  half- 
length  figure  in  the  Louvre — the  final  treatment  of  a 
subject  which  had  long  engrossed  Leonardo's  atten- 
tion. In  the  same  gallery  also  may  be  found  the  fine 
representation  in  colour  of  the  famous  cartoon  of 
Saint  Anna,  already  begun  in  1501. 

The  paralysis  which  crippled  his  right  hand  and 
prevented  him  from  using  his  brush,  must  ultimately 
have  put  an  end  to  Leonardo's  life.  When  the 
42 


/>>  /><'rii!is,sio7i  oj  f)r  Kichter  aiut  Attisrs.  Sajiipson  J.o-tv. 


LANDSCAPE  (WINDSOR). 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

Master  felt  that  death  was  at  hand,  he  summoned  a 
notary,  on  April  the  23rd,  15 19.  He  ordained  that 
his  body  should  be  buried  in  the  Church  of  Saint 
Florentin  at  Amboise.  To  his  brothers  he  bequeathed 
the  money  deposited  in  the  Hospital  of  Santa  Maria 
Nuova  at  Florence.  Salai  and  his  servants  were  not 
forgotten,  nor  were  the  poor  to  the  number  of  sixty, 
who  were  to  follow  him  to  the  grave  with  torches. 
But  his  most  precious  possessions — his  manuscripts 
and  the  appliances  of  his  craft — he  bequeathed  to 
Francesco  Melzi,  "  as  a  recognition  of  the  welcome 
services  which  he  had  rendered  him  in  the  past." 
Leonardo  attained  the  age  of  67  years.  "  He  departed 
this  life,"  wrote  Melzi  to  his  brothers,  on  the  2nd 
of  May,  after  receiving  the  sacraments  of  the  Church, 
perfectly  resigned.  May  God  Almighty  grant  him 
His  eternal  peace  !  Every  one  laments  the  loss  of  a 
man,  whose  like  Nature  cannot  produce  a  second 
time."  Three  months  later  Leonardo  was  laid  to  rest 
at  Amboise  in  the  tomb  which  he  had  himself  chosen. 

^  #  #  #  # 

In  15 17  Leonardo  seemed  to  his  visitors  an  old  man 
of  over  seventy  years  of  age  ;  whereas,  in  fact,  he  was 
at  that  time  about  sixty-four  years  old.  But  if  we 
closely  inspect  the  red  pastel  portrait  drawn  by  his 
own  hand,  which  must  represent  the  Master  during 
his  last  years,  we  shall  not  be  surprised  at  the  error  of 
our  eyewitness.  For  in  this  drawing  Leonardo  appears 
to  us  as  a  patriarch,  as  a  man  whose  term  of  life  had 
far  exceeded  the  average.  Unremitting  mental  toil 
must  have  furrowed  his  countenance  beyond  his  actual 
years. 

Beneath  shaggy  eyebrows,  large  impressive  eyes 
shine  out  from  a  face  adorned  with  long  flowing  hair 
and  beard.    The  first  glance,  no  less  than  a  protracted 

43 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

study  of  the  drawing,  reveals  to  us  an  extraordinary 
personality.  So  must  he  have  impressed  his  contem- 
poraries in  earlier  days,  and  popular  report  soon  in- 
vested this  brilliant  genius  w^ith  further  striking 
qualities.  Stories  v^ere  told  of  his  immense  bodily 
strength  and  of  his  remarkable  physical  dexterity.  His 
style  of  dress,  v^hich  differed  w^idely  from  the  fashion 
of  the  day — he  wore  a  short  coat  instead  of  a  long  one, 
as  others  did — his  long  and  well  kept  hair,  attracted 
the  regard  of  all  eyes  and  survived  in  the  memory  of 
posterity.  There  was  something  princely  and  magni- 
ficent in  his  bearing  ;  he  loved  fine  horses  and  found 
pleasure  in  the  company  of  handsome  men.  Vasari 
extols  the  physical  beauty  both  of  Salai  and  of 
Melzi. 

An  undoubtedly  authentic  picture,  which  repre- 
sented Leonardo  in  his  earlier  years,  has  not  come 
down  to  us.  The  portrait  in  the  Uffizi  Collection  is  a 
later,  spiritless  production,  devoid  of  historical  merit. 
The  profile  portrait  marked  by  the  carefully  curled 
hair,  of  which  several  copies  exist  {e.g,  at  Windsor), 
may  be  traced  to  a  good  contemporary  Milanese 
original. 

The  imagination  of  his  own  and  later  generations 
had  no  need  to  invest  this  man  with  singular  powers  : 
for  Nature  herself  had  over-richly  endowed  him,  as  if 
she  had  intended  to  present  in  one  model  an  ideal 
standard  for  all  time.  In  this  profusion  of  talents, 
however,  in  this  extraordinary  versatility,  may  be 
found  the  real  reason  why  this  genius  left  behind  a 
relatively  small  number  of  art  creations.  Again  and 
again  speculative  meditations  enticed  him  from  his 
creative  activity,  and  of  this  fact  without  doubt  his 
diverse  and  divided  interests  must  be  given  as  the 
cause. 

In  the  case  of  many  artists  it  is  needful  to  mention 

44 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

the  destruction  of  numerous  works  to  explain  the 
surprisingly  small  number  of  those  that  survive.  But 
in  the  case  of  Leonardo,  we  are  fairly  well  informed 
by  the  accounts  of  his  contemporaries,  that  the 
number  of  his  works  can  never  have  been  very  great. 
At  times  his  scientific  studies  made  him  positively 
detest  his  connexion  with  Art.  "  His  mathematical 
experiments  have  withdrawn  him  from  painting  to 
such  an  extent,  that  he  cannot  endure  the  sight  of  a 
brush,"  so  Pietro  da  Novellara  informed  Isabella  d'Este 
in  1502.  Nevertheless  at  frequent  intervals  objects 
must  have  appeared  on  the  scene  which,  despite  his 
scientific  reflections,  most  powerfully  attracted  his 
vision  and  directly  stimulated  his  fancy.  In  his 
manuscripts,  on  the  margin  or  wherever  possible,  are 
to  be  found  hurried  jottings  of  things  seen  at  the 
moment,  or  the  first  conceptions  of  works  of  art.  For 
example,  between  the  sentences  of  the  "  Codex  Atlan- 
ticus  "  may  be  seen  a  diminutive  first  sketch  of  the 
Standing  Leda  ;  in  like  manner  everywhere  are  heads, 
animal  forms,  details  of  the  human  figure  depicted  in 
certain  momentary  actions.  From  this  it  is  easy  to 
understand  how  this  mighty  genius  in  an  instant  leapt 
from  one  occupation  to  another. 

But  from  conception  to  execution  was  for  Leonardo 
a  long  course.  The  ideal  alone  seemed  to  him  worthy 
of  attainment.  Accordingly  he  sought  to  compass  his 
subject  from  all  sides,  to  make  trial  of  all  its  possibilities 
in  order  to  choose  the  most  fruitful  motive  for  his 
picture.  How  numerous,  for  instance,  are  the  studies 
for  the  Madonna  with  the  cat,  where  so  many  other — 
and  by  no  means  the  least  able — artists  in  Florence 
were  content  with  a  few  designs  sanctified  by  tradition. 
Likewise  for  several  of  his  works  we  possess  preliminary 
sketches  which  widely  differ  from  each  other  in  details. 
And  yet  the  completed  picture  would  not  satisfy  this 

45 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

artist,  who,  if  we  may  believe  Vasari,  after  four  years' 
work  gave  away  the  picture  of  Mona  Lisa  as  unfinished. 

Even  in  his  early  days  this  peculiarity  of  never 
arriving  at  the  end  of  his  work  struck  his  contempo- 
raries. Already  in  the  Quattrocento  a  Florentine  poet 
had  celebrated  Leonardo  as  the  man  who  perhaps 
excels  all  others,  yet  cannot  tear  himself  away  from  a 
picture,  and  in  many  years  scarce  brings  one  to  com- 
pletion." A  singular  conscientiousness  prevented  him 
from  completing  anything  quickly.  Therefore  all  his 
really  finished  works  represent  the  result  of  countless 
individual  observations  ;  and  in  truth,  if  we  definitely 
grasp  this  fact,  we  can  realize  how  years  might  often 
elapse  between  the  first  hastily  penned  sketch  and  its 
perfection. 

One  vivid  and  distinct  notion  of  the  manner  in 
which  Leonardo  worked  has  been  given  us  by  Bandello 
in  an  already-quoted  novel,  wherein  he  describes  the 
genesis  of  the  Last  Suffer,  "  He  was  wont,"  records 
this  writer,  as  I  myself  have  often  seen,  to  mount  the 
scaffolding  early  in  the  morning,  and  work  until  the 
approach  of  night,  and  in  the  interest  of  painting  he 
forgot  both  meat  and  drink.  Then  came  two,  three, 
or  even  four  days  when  he  did  not  stir  a  hand,  but 
spent  an  hour  or  two  in  contemplating  his  work, 
examining  and  criticizing  his  figures.  I  have  seen  him 
too  at  noon,  when  the  sun  stood  in  the  sign  of  Leo, 
leave  the  Corte  Vecchia  (in  the  centre  of  the  town) 
where  he  was  engaged  on  his  equestrian  statue,  and  go 
straight  to  Santa  Maria  delle  Grazie,  mount  the 
scaffolding,  seize  a  brush,  add  two  or  three  touches  to 
a  single  figure,  and  return  forthwith." 

The  Master,  who  worked  with  such  intensity,  even 
when  he  was  to  all  appearance  inactive,  might  well 
reply  to  the  importunity  of  the  monks  of  the  convent, 
that  not  a  day  passed  on  which  he  did  not  devote  two 

46 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

full  hours  to  his  work.  This  energy,  it  must  be 
owned,  was  often  of  the  most  abstract  character,  and 
a  work  that  he  had  begun  did  not  seem  to  make  the 
least  advance  until  it  was  finally  matured  in  his  mind. 

If  the  life  of  Leonardo  be  regarded  in  its  main 
features,  it  will  be  found  that  apart  from  the  condi- 
tions arising  from  the  temper  of  his  mind,  an  outward 
circumstance  had  crippled  his  creative  activity.  Leo- 
nardo never  found  the  sphere  of  action  equal  to  his 
vast  powers.  The  only  man  that  might  have  satisfied 
his  requirements,  Ludovico  Moro — who  in  a  relatively 
short  space  of  time  left  behind  in  Milan  indelible 
traces  of  splendid  art  patronage — ^was  by  the  malice  of 
destiny  prevented  from  carrying  out  his  designs.  Of 
all  the  great  artists  of  the  Renaissance,  none  was  so 
neglected  in  this  respect  as  Leonardo.  Even  Cor- 
reggio,  within  the  narrow  limits  of  his  provincial  life, 
found  a  wide  field  for  his  invention,  to  say  nothing  of 
Michel  Angelo,  Raphael,  Titian  and  others. 

What  would  we  not  give  if  we  could  divine  how  his 
life's  work  appeared  to  the  old  man,  when  far  from  his 
native  home  he  surveyed  his  career,  if  he  compared 
what  he  was  actually  leaving  behind  with  what  he 
might  have  done.  At  all  times  he  held  the  highest 
opinion  of  himself  and  of  his  powers.  He  has  spoken 
thereof  with  the  candour  and  assurance  of  the  man 
who  has  adjudged  himself  to  be  of  the  most  exalted 
merit.  The  letter  to  Ludovico  Moro,  in  which  he 
recounts  his  varied  qualifications,  is  the  grandest 
testimony  that  genius  ever  bore  to  itself  ;  and  there 
exists  also  the  skeleton  of  a  "  letter  to  the  Building 
Committee  of  the  Cathedral  of  Piacenza,"  in  which  he 
discusses  the  proposal  that  they  should  entrust  the 
execution  of  the  design  for  the  Cathedral  doors  to  an 
eminent  master.  "  But  I  can  assure  you,"  he  writes, 
"  that  in  this  country  you  will  obtain  only  common- 

47 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

place  work  done  by  inferior,  unskilled  artists.  There 
is  no  one  of  any  worth  (you  may  believe  me)  with  the 
exception  of  the  Florentine  Leonardo,  who  is  making 
the  bronze  monument  of  the  Duke  Francesco.  .  .  ." 

Leonardo,  whose  genius  dared  to  soar  into  the 
infinite,  far  above  the  ideas  of  his  age,  was  filled  with 
the  desire  once  in  his  life  to  allow  mankind  to  see  the 
vast  range  of  his  mental  powers.  For  many  years  he 
had  devoted  his  earnest  attention  to  the  flight  of  birds, 
and  had  rendered  himself  familiar  with  every  single 
characteristic  of  vdng  action.  In  consequence,  the 
conviction  grew  upon  him  that  it  must  be  possible 
for  men  to  raise  themselves  above  the  earth  on  wings. 
Leonardo  felt  sure  of  success.  The  sentences  which 
he  wrote  thereon  ring  with  a  trumpet  flourish  of 
triumph  :  "  the  huge  bird  will  take  his  first  flight  high 
aloft  on  the  ridge  of  his  great  Ceceri  (the  mountain 
between  Fiesole  and  Majano)  ;  he  will  fill  the  universe 
with  wonder  and  all  writings  with  his  fame,  and  will 
give  deathless  renown  to  the  nest  which  witnessed  his 
birth.'-  And  thereafter  nothing  further  is  heard  on 
the  subject.    It  had  been  a  veritable  flight  of  Icarus. 

To  the  observer,  who  looks  for  attainment  and  not 
aspiration,  this  man,  to  whom  Nature  had  lent  every 
gift,  appears  in  the  tragic  light  which  plays  around  the 
most  illustrious  spirits.  •  The  destiny  of  solitude  was 
vouchsafed  them,  but  in  return  the  shadows  of  their 
existence  dominate  the  ages,  conspicuous  from  afar 
like  the  giant  mountains  which  tower  into  the  blue  of 
Heaven. 


48 


STUDIES   OF    HANDS  (WINDSOR) 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 


EARLY  WORKS 

ONE  studies  with  special  interest  the  early- 
development  of  a  great  artist.  For  one 
straightway  expects  to  find  in  his  youthful 
works  the  key  to  his  character.  Since  it  is  the 
peculiarity  of  youth  to  show  itself  as  it  really  is,  to 
reveal  itself  more  directly  and  freely  than  in  the  later 
years  of  maturity,  when  the  intellect  and  the  will 
stand  more  prominently  in  the  foreground  and  the 
original  qualities  appear  more  veiled.  There  is  no 
doubt  too  that  in  the  works  of  youth  the  new  spirit, 
which  is  called  into  being  on  the  appearance  of  a  great 
artist,  comes  at  once  into  view,  sometimes  diffidently, 
often  in  strong  natures  with  the  lively  exuberance  of 
a  mountain  torrent. 

Again  these  first  efforts  bear  the  stamp  of  the 
system  of  training  which  the  young  genius  has  received. 
It  is  just  this  mixture  of  two  artistic  tendencies,  of 
the  acquired  and  of  the  innate,  which  often  gives  to 
such  early  efforts  a  subtle,  incomparable  charm. 

He  who  examines  the  youthful  works  of  a  great 
artist  must  bear  in  mind  these  general  conditions  in 
order  to  guard  against  disappointments  to  which  one 
is  here  more  than  ever  exposed.  But  in  all  cases  the 
greatest  delicacy  of  perception  must  hold  sway  in  the 
criticism  which  can  distinguish  between  youthful  im- 
maturity and  artistic  incapacity.  There  are  certain 
faculties  in  art  which  can  be  acquired  :  even  the  genius 
needs  an  apprenticeship  to  master  them.  Accordingly 
those  works  which  fall  in  the  years  of  learning  will  not 
be  free  from  defects  of  skill,  which  mean  nothing  more 
than  lack  of  experience  and  practice.    Less  gifted 

D  49 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

artists,  on  the  contrary,  often  combine  with  great 
routine,  which  may  be  delusive,  a  want  of  originality 
and  a  lack  of  independent  ideas  of  form,  which  always 
prevent  them  from  rising  above  mediocrity. 

On  this  distinction,  which  may  be  described  in  a 
word  as  the  distinction  between  genius  and  talent, 
rests  the  decision  of  that  much  disputed  (yet  at 
bottom  perfectly  clear)  question  of  the  respective 
shares  of  Masaccio  and  Masolino  in  the  Brancacci 
Chapel.  One  must  bear  this  point  in  mind  in  order 
not  to  confound  Leonardo  vnth  Verrocchio,  his 
master,  or  with  Credi,  his  fellow  pupil. 

Only  on  a  single  picture  have  opinions  agreed,  and 
recognized  it  as  an  early  work  of  Leonardo.  This  is 
the  small  long-shaped  panel  of  ^he  Annunciation  in 
the  Louvre.  In  earlier  times  Filippo  Lippi  had 
shown  a  certain  predilection  for  this  scene.  But  he  - 
almost  always  painted  it  in  upright  form  with  the 
figures  erect,  the  composition  being  suited  for  the 
frame  of  an  altar.  Leonardo  makes  use  of  the  shape 
of  his  canvas  to  paint  both  figures  kneeling.  This 
produces  the  delightful  undulating  lines  in  the  two 
figures,  which  incline  towards  each  other.  To  the 
right  some  architecture  is  lightly  traced.  On  the  left 
is  a  stretch  of  turf  bright  with  flowers.  Above  the 
wall  are  dark  tree  stems,  with  a  perspective  of  clear 
evening  sky.  The  whole  is  painted  in  faint  colours 
and  represents  the  still  calm  of  a  highly  solemn  hour. 

He  who  steps  before  the  picture,  even  without  fore- 
knowledge, will  straightway  recognize  the  hand  of  a 
very  young  artist.  The  picture  is  childlike  and  naive, 
timid  and  cheerful  at  once.  In  the  form  of  the  heads, 
in  the  style  of  drapery,  in  the  details  of  the  design  one 
recognizes  the  school  of  Verrocchio.  It  lacks,  how- 
ever, the  hardness,  sometimes  rising  to  harshness, 
which  never  left  that  master.    It  lacks  also  the  un- 

50 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

graceful  heaviness  that  marks  even  the  more  pleasing 
of  Credi's  early  pictures.  With  what  promising  talents 
this  hoy  sketches  and  paints  1  How  skilfully  already 
he  distributes  light  and  shade.  Moreover,  in  the 
grace  of  the  angel's  profile  and  the  right  hand  of  the 
Madonna  shyly  appears  the  Master  of  the  Vierge  aux 
rochets  and  the  Mona  Lisa, 

One  may  suppose  with  the  greatest  probability  that 
Leonardo  painted  this  small  picture  at  the  age  of 
about  seventeen  years.  We  possess  no  other  picture 
by  him  of  the  same  period,  and  even  the  sketches  that 
we  know  were  drawn  by  young  Leonardo,  were  made 
several  years  later.  When  he  was  one-and-twenty 
years  old  he  drew  the  landscape  now  in  the  Uffizi — • 
the  earliest  attempt  in  Italy  to  reproduce  a  definite 
scene  in  its  main  features.  Only  in  the  backgrounds 
of  Pollaiuolo's  pictures  (in  London  and  Florence)  are 
found  such  wide  prospects,  embracing  plain,  river  and 
mountain.  Perhaps  he  who  could  depict  these  scenes 
with  such  fidelity  to  nature  had  made  earlier  landscape 
studies.  But  nothing  of  the  kind  has  come  down  to 
us.  Leonardo's  sketch,  therefore,  possesses  high  his- 
torical value.  While  from  the  artistic  point  of  view 
several  immaturities  in  details  are  conspicuous,  especi- 
ally to  the  modern  trained  eye  ;  for  example,  in  the 
false  fantastic  rendering  of  the  rocks. 

The  young  Leonardo  seems  to  have  used  the  pen 
by  preference  in  his  drawing.  He  has  used  it,  for 
instance,  in  his  sketch  representing  Bandini's  execution 
by  hanging,  in  the  sheet  of  head  studies  in  the  Ufiizi, 
in  his  many  studies  for  a  Madonna,  and  the  drawings 
which  were  made  for  the  Adoration  oj  the  Kings, 

It  is  not  very  probable  that  Leonardo  ever  finished 
the  two  pictures  of  the  Madonna  which  he  began  at 
the  end  of  the  year  1478.  At  any  rate,  not  a  single 
notice  of  such  a  work  is  to  be  found  in  the  literature 

SI 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

of  the  period.  Yet  the  artist  repeatedly  considered 
one  of  these  pictures  and  sought  to  give  finish  and 
poHsh  to  the  composition.  The  Madonna  was  to  be 
represented  with  the  Child  on  her  lap  playing  with  a 
cat  ;  a  simple  genre  motive.  Here  one  meets  with  an 
eminently  modern  effort  of  a  beginner,  for  hitherto 
the  portrayal  of  the  Mother  of  God  had  made  only 
the  most  timid  approaches  towards  the  sphere  of 
common  humanity.  Filippo  Lippi  in  this  respect  was 
the  first  to  break  with  the  rigid  form  bequeathed  by 
the  Trecento.  The  more  so,  as  he  gave  the  Madonna 
the  form  of  a  certain  contemporary  Florentine  model 
(particularly  his  tondo  in  the  Palazzo  Pitti).  Botticelli 
follows  him  on  this  path,  but  gives  to  the  Virgin  Mary 
as  well  as  to  the  infant  Christ  a  spiritual  expression  so 
intense  that  it  does  not  leave  the  spectator  for  a 
moment  in  doubt  that  the  subject  of  the  picture  is, 
not  simply  a  mother  with  her  child,  but  Godhood  clad 
in  human  form.  With  Leonardo,  on  the  contrary, 
the  Child  is  playing  with  a  cat,  teasing  the  animal  in 
childish  fashion.  He  presses  it  to  Him  with  all  the 
strength  of  His  little  arms,  so  that  it  struggles  to  get 
free.  While  the  Mother  looks  down  on  her  frolic- 
some infant  with  a  smile,  holding  Him  fast  round  the 
waist  that  He  may  not  slip  from  her  lap  in  His  game. 
For  a  moment  only  does  Leonardo  appear  to  have 
thought  of  another  scene,  where  the  Mother  is 
suckling  the  Child  who,  however,  still  plays  with  the 
cat.  He  has  drawn  the  figures  in  profile  and  has 
given  to  the  Madonna  that  heroic  form  which  Dona- 
tello  had  first  introduced  in  Florence. 

A  charming  scene  like  the  Madonna  with  the  cat 
could  have  been  painted  by  no  one  more  serenely  and 
sweetly  than  by  Leonardo.  The  Child  has  the 
strength  of  infancy,  with  stout  healthy  body,  chubby 
cheeks  and  fluttering  curls.  The  Madonna  is  maidenly 
52 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

modest,  with  eyes  meekly  cast  down.  The  picture  is 
overpowering  by  its  grace.  In  two  studies  Leonardo 
has  given  the  group  the  actual  form  of  a  picture.  It 
is  rounded  at  the  top,  and  the  composition  is  cast  in 
the  shape  of  an  acute  angled  triangle.  Never  has  an 
artist  found  with  more  grace  ever  new  variations  of  a 
theme  essentially  so  simple  and  so  often  handled. 

We  know  less  about  the  second  picture  of  the 
Madonna.  Can  it  possibly  be  that  exquisite  big  sheet 
in  the  Louvre,  which  long  bore  the  name  of  Raphael 
where  the  Child  is  thrusting  His  hand  into  a  bowl, 
which  the  mother  holds  out  to  Him,  while  He  gazes 
tenderly  at  her  and  strokes  her  cheek  with  His  hand  ? 
Or  can  it  be  that  group  in  which  John  the  Baptist  as  a 
boy  is  approaching  the  pair  with  reverence  ?  Here 
we  have  a  single  instance  of  a  theme,  hit  upon  by 
Leonardo,  from  which  a  quarter  of  a  century  later 
a  young  artist  derived  inspiration,  which  he  varied  in 
creations  regarded  by  mankind  as  the  most  radiant 
glorification  of  a  mother's  joy.  The  young  artist  was 
Raphael. 

On  Leonardo's  remarkable  sketch  in  Windsor,  which 
suggested  and  inspired  Raphael's  Esterhazy  Madonna, 
the  Madonna  in  Green  and  la  Belle  Jardiniere,  are 
drawn  several  heads  in  profile,  of  children,  young  men 
and  maidens.  Similar  profiles,  or  figures  seen  in  pro- 
file, are  to  be  found  at  this  time  (about  1 478-1480) 
repeatedly,  one  may  even  say  exclusively,  in  Leonardo's 
sketches.  The  finest  of  them  are  at  Windsor.  He 
constantly  puts  such  heads  on  paper  as  if  he  were 
conscious  that  his  hand  could  draw  the  contour  from 
the  brow  to  the  neck  with  indescribable  grace.  There 
are  only  a  few  oft  recurring  types,  gracefully  finished, 
with  clear  wide  open  eyes,  characteristically  surrounded 
by  a  few  strokes  of  the  pen.  Besides  the  youthful 
heads,  we  here  meet  for  the  first  time  remarkable, 

S3 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

deeply  impressive  heads  of  old  men,  with  high-arched 
foreheads,  aquiline  noses  whose  tips  sink  towards  the 
mouth,  projecting  underlips  and  firm  chins.  These 
significant  types,  whose  peculiarities  are  not  yet  so 
strongly  emphasized  as  to  become  caricatures,  Leo- 
nardo apparently  derived  from  antique  models,  such 
as  coins  of  Imperial  Rome  :  Galba,  for  example, 
Vespasian  and  Titus  are  thus  represented. 

Whether  Leonardo  intended  to  use  these  charming 
or  peculiar  types  in  any  of  his  pictures,  does  not 
appear  with  certainty  in  any  of  his  sketches.  Only 
one  sheet  forms  an  exception — a  famous  cartoon  of 
the  erstwhile  Malcolm  Collection,  now  in  the  British 
Museum.  On  it  is  the  half-length  figure  of  a  warrior, 
in  left  profile,  traced  with  the  utmost  care.  This 
figure  appears  in  helmet  and  armour  which  are  most 
richly  adorned.  He  is  conceived  as  the  warrior  type, 
with  threatening  glance,  like  a  general  surveying  the 
field  of  battle.  One  is  involuntarily  reminded  of 
Verrocchio's  Colleoni,  which  gazes  into  the  distance 
with  the  same  expression.  The  drawing  must  have 
been  made  at  the  very  time  when  Leonardo's  master 
was  engaged  on  the  plan  of  his  monument.  Does  it 
represent  an  effort  of  the  pupil  to  show  his  master  how 
he  himself  would  handle  the  task  ?  At  all  events  if 
one  wishes  to  compare  anything  with  the  Colleoni,  as 
regards  a  concentrated  expression  of  will,  there  is 
nothing  so  worthy  of  comparison  as  the  drawing  of 
Leonardo,  except  Diirer's  Knight  from  the  renowned 
engraving  showing  Death  and  the  Devil. 

But  not  in  this  drawing  only  is  one  reminded  of 
Leonardo's  apprenticeship.  The  sketches  of  the 
Madonna,  despite  all  their  freedom  of  design,  betray 
the  school.  The  infant  Christ,  as  the  young  master 
depicts  Him,  is  cast  in  exactly  the  same  form  as 
Verrocchio's  cherubic  Boy  with  the  Fish,  or  the  Christ 

54 


VIRGIN    AND    CHILD  (LOUVRE;. 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

Child  on  the  relief  of  Santa  Maria  Nuova,  which,  by 
the  way,  may  be  pronounced  to  be  the  most  finely  exe- 
cuted presentment  of  the  Madonna  in  Florentine  art 
of  the  Quattrocento,  and  at  the  same  time  the  most 
graceful  plastic  treatment  of  the  same  simple  theme. 

In  still  another  respect  Leonardo  remains  subject  to 
his  master.  Verrocchio  in  all  his  works,  bestowed 
particular  care  on  his  drapery.  He  painted  the  gar- 
ments surrounding  the  body  with  the  greatest  minute- 
ness, so  that  occasionally  he  becomes  almost  lost  in 
excess  of  detail.  For  instance,  the  accumulation  of 
drapery  in  the  Unbelieving  Thomas  almost  suggests  a 
work  of  the  Baroque  style.  In  the  studio  of  Ver- 
rocchio, drapery  studies  appear  to  have  been  quite  a 
species  of  sport.  Sketches  of  that  kind  were  drawn,  it 
seems,  simply  for  their  own  sake,  without  any  intention 
of  using  them  in  pictures  ;  just  as  one  draws  from  the 
nude  for  the  sake  of  study.  Numerous  works  of  this 
kind  which  may  be  traced  to  Verrocchio's  studio  are 
in  existence.  They  are  sketched  on  fine  linen  with 
the  brush — grey  on  a  grey  ground,  with  the  lights  in 
strong  relief.  It  is  the  more  difficult  to  determine 
whose  hand  painted  them,  inasmuch  as  we  learn  from 
Vasari  that  in  these  matters  Credi  was  a  conscious 
imitator  of  Leonardo.  The  majority  of  such  vesture 
studies  can  in  fact  be  traced  to  Credi.  There  are, 
however,  some  among  them  that  in  clearness  of 
execution,  in  emphasis  of  the  main  lines  and  in  general 
linear  beauty,  far  exceed  Credi's  powers.  These 
perhaps  may  be  attributed  to  Leonardo.  By  far  the 
most  beautiful  sheet  of  this  kind  is  the  study  of  a  cloak 
in  the  Louvre,  designed  for  a  sitting  figure.  It 
envelops  the  lower  portion  of  the  body,  and  at  once 
suggests  the  figure  of  an  enthroned  Madonna,  as  she 
is  usually  represented  in  altarpieces  of  the  fifteenth 
century. 

55 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 


But  in  later  years,  when  he  wrote  his  treatise  on 
painting,  Leonardo  expressed  himself  very  decidedly 
against  drawing  this  sort  of  drapery  study  as  an  end 
in  itself.  In  this  work  he  lays  especial  stress  on 
simplicity,  which  one  at  once  misses  in  the  sketches 
made  in  Verrocchio's  studio.  Several  fine  drapery 
studies  (for  the  kneeling  angel  in  the  Vierge  aux 
tochers^  and  the  Mary  in  the  ^aint  Anna  picture) 
illustrate  better  than  his  words  how,  as  a  matured 
artist,  he  wished  drapery  to  be  treated  in  painting. 


THE  ADORATION  OF  THE  KINGS 

THREE  times  was  the  oft-repeated  theme  of  the 
"  Adoration  of  the  Kings  "  dealt  with  in  a 
strikingly  original  fashion  in  Florence  during 
the  Quattrocento.  When,  in  the  year  1423,  the 
solemnly  serene  altarpiece  of  Gentile  da  Fabriano  was 
set  up  in  Santa  Trinita,  the  criterion  was  found  for  a 
long  time.  The  influence  of  this  composition,  with 
its  skilful  and  tasteful  use  of  the  advantages  offered  by 
the  subject  in  its  rich  variety  of  figures  and  movements, 
may  be  observed  in  many  other  pictures.  Fra  Filippo 
has  most  beautifully  transformed  the  composition  to 
suit  the  round  picture  (in  the  Cook  Collection  at 
Richmond). 

The  other  two  pictures  must  have  appeared  almost 
at  the  same  time,  about  1480  ;  one  perhaps  somewhat 
earlier,  the  other  a  very  little  later.  Among  Botti- 
celli's altarpieces  the  first  place  is  held  by  his  Adoration^ 
famous  on  account  of  the  portraits  of  the  Medici 
family.  Never  is  the  drawing  with  him  so  impressive 
and  at  the  same  time  so  simple.  On  no  other  occasion 
has  he  brought  together  such  a  crowd  of  significant 

56 


STUDY   OF    DRAPERY  (LOUVRE). 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

figures  in  a  narrow  space.  He  broke  completely  with 
traditional  forms,  which  had  treated  the  Adoration 
and  the  array  of  the  princely  following  as  two  scenes 
of  equal  pictorial  importance  and  set  them  side  by 
side.  Botticelli  also  treated  the  subject  in  this  way  in 
his  early  work,  now  in  the  National  Gallery.  In  the 
later  future  the  nobles  have  taken  up  positions  on  the 
right  and  left  in  solemn  uniformity  and  regard  the 
proceedings  with  calm  dignity. 

Leonardo  and  Botticelli  must  have  known  each 
other  well.  Separated  only  by  a  few  years  in  point  of 
age,  they  were  the  most  closely  related  of  all  the  young 
Florentines  in  their  artistic  aims.  Later,  it  must  be 
owned,  in  his  "  Trattato  della  pittura,"  Leonardo  has 
spoken  sarcastically  of  Botticelli  as  a  landscape  painter. 
He  may  not  have  seen,  however,  the  landscape  portions 
of  the  S'pring, 

Leonardo  carefully  prepared  his  picture  of  the 
Adoration  in  numerous  studies.  For  a  short  time  he 
seems  to  have  contemplated  an  Adoration  of  the 
Shepherds,  as  the  latter  appear  in  one  of  these  studies 
(in  the  Bonnat  Collection  at  Paris).  This  composition 
is  in  the  usual  Florentine  form,  which  later  became 
still  more  common,  chiefly  through  its  use  by  Credi, 
whose  principal  picture  is  in  the  Florentine  Academy. 
The  change  of  subject  gave  Leonardo  the  advantage 
of  vastly  increasing  the  number  of  characters  in  the 
picture  and  also  of  introducing  mounted  figures 
among  them. 

Leonardo  has  brought  the  chief  group  into  the 
immediate  foreground,  in  opposition  to  Botticelli, 
who  assigned  it  a  raised  position  in  the  centre  ground. 
In  front  of  it  on  the  right  and  left  stand  only  the  three 
principal  persons — the  kings.  All  the  others  group 
themselves  in  a  half  circle  behind  the  Madonna.  Here 
is  a  lively  diversity  both  of  figures  and  gestures  in 

57 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

contrast  to  the  gravity  and  repose  in  front.  So  many 
sharply-defined  and  individual  types — ^which,  however, 
are  not  distinct  portraits  of  known  people — have  never 
been  brought  together  by  anyone  else.  The  attention 
of  all  is  fixed  on  the  centre  ;  and  the  striking  gestures 
of  their  hands  betray  the  strong  psychical  emotion 
which  all  feel. 

One  may  regard  the  whole  picture  as  an  endeavour 
to  paralyse  a  surging  throng  of  emotions  by  means  of 
points  of  calm  repose.  Of  greatest  importance  to  the 
picture  are  the  two  figures  set  forward  in  the  two 
corners,  where  the  half  circle  of  the  centre  ground 
ends.  They  give  an  architectural  touch  as  it  were  to 
the  picture.  They  stand  there  like  the  pillars  of  a 
tabernacle  on  which  the  arch  rests.  To  them  more 
than  all  the  others  has  the  artist  given  strikingly 
splendid  forms.  One,  an  old  man,  stands  closely 
wrapped  in  his  cloak,  lost  in  deep  thought  :  a  figure 
like  that  of  St.  Paul  in  Raphael's  picture  of  St.  Cecilia 
in  Bologna  or  in  Diirer's  picture  of  the  Apostle.  The 
other  is  knightly  and  heroic,  clad  in  glistening  armour, 
dowered  with  the  beauty  of  youth.  It  is  the  sole 
figure  which  looks  out  from  the  picture.  Since  one 
finds  on  the  same  spot  in  Botticelli's  picture  the 
artist's  own  portrait,  likewise  with  the  glance  directed 
towards  the  spectator,  one  cannot  reject  the  idea  that 
in  this  figure  Leonardo  too  has  painted  his  own 
image. 

In  all  pictures  of  the  Adoration  the  hut,  usually 
represented  as  a  ruined  palace,  stands  in  full  view  of 
the  onlooker,  directly  behind  the  Madonna.  Leonardo 
breaks  with  this  custom.  But  he  has  introduced  two 
trees  near  the  Madonna  in  order  to  emphasize  more 
strongly  the  chief  figures  and  to  relieve  the  empty 
space  in  the  upper  part  of  the  composition. 

The  background  is  filled  up  partly  with  a  quaint 

58 


FHE  ADORATION   OF  THE  MAGI  (UFFIZI). 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

piece  of  architecture,  partly  with  a  rural  landscape, 
and  affords  opportunity  for  introducing  numerous 
figures.  Here  are  shown  in  busy  movement  the 
mounted  retainers  of  the  kings.  Two  are  engaged  in 
a  joust  :  the  horses  are  rearing  while  the  riders  half- 
standing  in  the  stirrups  lean  forward  in  the  saddle. 
Figures  like  these  appear  again  in  Leonardo's  picture 
of  the  Battle  of  Anghiari. 

Other  figures  are  under  the  portico  on  the  left, 
standing  on  the  peculiar  double  staircase,  of  which 
Leonardo  had  made  a  careful  study  beforehand  in  a 
drawing,  now  in  the  Uffizi.  These  men  are  depicted 
in  various  spirited  attitudes  and  characteristic  move- 
ments. Some  are  only  faintly  traced  in  the  ground- 
colouring. 

Among  the  numerous  figures  in  the  picture — and 
owing  to  the  widespread  animation  of  the  movements 
one  expects  to  see  even  more  than  there  actually  are — 
a  single  character  is  specially  prominent.  On  the 
extreme  left,  behind  the  figure  of  the  old  man,  stands 
a  rider,  whose  body  is  partly  hidden  by  a  horse's  head. 
The  head  is  of  the  peculiar  type  that  can  be  seen  in 
many  sketches  by  Leonardo.  The  knight  points  with 
a  gesture  of  his  hand  towards  the  middle  group,  while 
he  turns  towards  the  outside.  Thus  he  unites,  as  it 
were,  the  picture  of  the  ideal  with  the  real  world 
beyond. 

The  picture  in  the  form  in  which  we  see  it  to-day, 
must  be  the  outcome  of  endless  thought.  For  every 
single  feature  is  artistically  fine  and  fraught  with 
meaning.  How  different  is  the  drawing  in  the  Louvre 
— one  of  the  most  beautiful  drawings  in  existence,  and 
altogether  one  of  the  most  charming  sheets  by 
Leonardo — from  the  later  work,  in  which  scarcely  a 
single  detail  has  been  exactly  reproduced.  The 
majority  of  the  studies  are  intended  to  fix  the  motive 

59 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

of  single  figures.  One  sees  clearly  that  the  artist  has 
not  intended  to  draw  a  study  of  the  nude.  It  is 
indeed  surprising,  particularly  so  in  an  artist  brought 
up  in  Florence,  that  among  Leonardo's  early  drawings 
no  studies  from  the  nude  are  to  be  found.  One 
observes  in  his  early  drawings,  as  in  Greek  statues,  that 
the  psychical  character  of  a  figure  is  interpreted  by 
the  collective  action  of  the  body.  In  his  sketches  the 
artist  considers  the  whole  effect.  Every  single  item  is 
thought  of  in  regard  to  this.  "  Let  your  figures  have 
such  movements  as  show  sufficiently  what  each  figure 
means."    So  teaches  Leonardo  as  theorist. 

The  spirit  in  which  this  picture  is  conceived  is  no 
longer  simply  the  spirit  of  the  Quattrocento.  The 
Quattrocentist  neither  has  this  freedom  of  perception, 
which  is  far  removed  from  rigid  copying  of  the  model, 
nor  can  he  bring  together  so  many  motives  complete 
in  themselves,  as  to  let  the  whole  arise  from  the  parts. 
Even  the  best  in  Florence,  even  Antonio  PoUaiuolo, 
despite  all  his  powerful  and  passionate  delineation  of 
the  human  body,  falls  into  the  second  rank  compared 
with  Leonardo.  And  a  comparison  with  Botticelli's 
picture  of  the  Adoration^  magnificent  as  this  is  in 
many  respects,  on  the  whole  turns  in  favour  of 
Leonardo's  creation.  With  this  picture,  with  the  year 
1480  therefore,  begins  the  period  of  Classical  Art  in 
the  Cinquecento  sense.  Even  after  this,  however, 
more  than  two  decades  were  required  to  follow  the 
swift  advance  of  Leonardo. 

Leonardo  has  not  completely  finished  his  picture. 
It  hangs  to-day  in  the  ground-colouring  in  one  of  the 
Tuscan  rooms  of  the  Uffizi.  He  has  painted  in  the 
figures  in  a  greenish  hue  on  a  brownish  ground,  and 
has  already  begun  to  apply  light  and  shade.  The  main 
group  stands  out  light  against  the  darkness  of  the 
centre  and  the  right  corner.  From  the  left  a  broad 
60 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

band  of  light  streams  to  the  front,  but  the  old  man 
stands  out  dark  against  it.  Whether  it  was  Leonardo's 
peculiar  temperament  or  his  departure  for  Milan  that 
prevented  its  completion,  we  know  not.  But  the 
artistic  aim  stands  out  clear  as  day  even  in  this 
unfinished  picture.  Unfortunatel}^  the  somewhat 
unattractive  sameness  of  colour  at  first  sight  hinders 
many  from  making  a  detailed  inspection  of  the  picture. 
And  this  is  to  be  regretted  in  the  highest  degree.  For 
it  is  one  of  the  greatest  monuments  of  Florentine 
painting,  and  one  of  the  rare  and  wholly  original 
creations  of  Leonardo,  which,  in  addition,  has  come 
down  to  us  intact. 

Whoever  examines  the  picture  in  all  its  details, 
contemplates  each  figure  separately  and  inquires  into 
its  import  for  the  whole,  to  him  without  doubt  the 
significance  of  the  work  becomes  apparent.  Then  it 
may  easily  happen  that,  in  the  presence  of  the  dull 
tones  of  this  work,  the  other  gaily  coloured  pictures  in 
the  same  room — even  Sarto's  Madonna  of  the  Harries 
or  Sodoma's  Sebastian — will  grow  pale. 

Closely  related,  in  point  of  style,  to  this  picture  of 
the  Adoration,  is  the  Saint  Jerome  in  the  Vatican 
Gallery.  Like  the  Adoration  it  is  only  completed  in 
the  ground  colouring.  Passionate  devotion  and  rever- 
ence animate  this  figure,  which  stands  before  a  rugged 
background  of  rocks — a  first  draught  of  the  landscape 
of  the  Vierge  aux  rochers.  When  Leonardo  wrote  in 
his  treatise  on  painting,  "  that  figure  is  not  good  which 
does  not  express  through  its  gesture  the  passions  of  its 
soul,"  he  had  already  created  in  his  figure  of  St. 
Jerome  a  picture  in  which  artistic  intention  and 
attainment  found  themselves  in  perfect  harmony. 
That  is  and  will  always  remain  the  deciding  quality 
in  high  artistic  work. 


6i 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 


EQUESTRIAN  MONUMENTS 

IN  his  treatise  on  painting,  Leonardo  has  contrasted 
the  relative  values  of  painting  and  sculpture, 
and  in  this  comparison  has  given  unqualified 
preference  to  the  former.  According  to  him  sculpture 
has  no  advantage  over  it  except  in  its  greater  durability. 
He  goes  so  far  as  to  assert  that  it  is  a  highly  mechanical 
art  and  requires  the  application  of  less  genius  than 
painting. 

Remarkable  words  in  the  mouth  of  a  man  who 
could  say  of  himself,  "  as  I  am  no  less  versed  in  sculp- 
ture than  in  painting,  and  practise  both  arts  in  equal 
measure,  it  seems  to  me  that  v^ithout  incurring  the 
charge  of  presumption,  I  may  give  judgment  as  to 
the  difficulty  and  perfection  of  the  two  arts,  and 
decide  which  of  the  two  requires  the  more  genius." 
Still  more  noteworthy,  it  must  be  owned,  are  his 
remarks  if  one  considers  that  he  had  grown  up  in  the 
studio  of  an  artist  who  was  specially  active  as  a  sculptor, 
and  that  for  many  years  he  was  engaged  mainly  on 
great  plastic  undertakings. 

No  authentic  sculptural  work  of  Leonardo  has  come 
down  to  us,  although  there  has  been  no  lack  of  works 
ascribed  to  him.  And  even  concerning  his  two  chief 
efforts  in  the  domain  of  sculpture — the  equestrian 
monuments  of  Francesco  Sforza  and  of  Gian  Giacomo 
Trivulzio — ^we  are  not  so  accurately  informed  that  we 
can  settle  what  was  the  final  shape  each  took  in 
Leonardo's  imagination.  Only  the  most  recent  re- 
searches have  been  able  to  throw  light  on  these  very 
intricate  questions,  and  have  divided  what  up  to  the 
present  appeared  to  be  different  forms  of  one  and  the 
62 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

same  work  into  two  distinct  groups.  Happily  many 
of  Leonardo's  sketches  are  extant.  They  alone  dis- 
close to  any  extent  the  artist's  inmost  thoughts  in  this 
connexion. 

To  an  age  in  which  renown  was  an  essential  factor 
of  life,  the  equestrian  monument  seemed  to  be  the 
only  worthy  form  in  which  to  transmit  to  posterity 
the  true  importance  of  their  greatest  men.  Two  such 
monuments  (in  Rome  and  Pavia)  had  been  handed 
down  from  antiquity,  and  were  admired  as  models  of 
the  grand  style.  The  fifteenth  century  was  proud  to 
be  able  to  place  at  their  side  some  creations  of  their 
own. 

All  these  monuments  alike  are  characterized  by  the 
restful  pose  of  the  whole  figure.  The  horses  are 
pacing  with  slow  tread.  The  demeanour  of  the  riders 
is  in  keeping  with  the  calm  pace  of  their  chargers. 
Even  Verrocchio's  Colleoni  with  its  vigorous  move- 
ment has  an  iron  steadfastness  and  repose  about  it. 
Violent  unrest  in  such  a  position,  on  a  high  pedestal, 
may  easily  produce  an  unpleasing  effect.  What  is 
destined  to  endure  unshaken  the  assault  of  centuries 
must  not  try  to  perpetuate  a  moment.  Leonardo  had 
already  seen  Verrocchio's  model  with  his  own  eyes  in 
Florence.  Before  he  left  his  native  city  it  was  ready 
for  transport  to  Venice.  So  when  he  himself  under- 
took a  similar  task,  he  entered  into  direct  rivalry  with 
his  master. 

It  was  inherent  in  his  soaring  genius,  to  which  the 
apparently  impossible  seemed  attainable  and  worthy 
of  effort,  that  he  should  soon  depart  from  the  cus- 
tomary form,  retained  in  all  known  equestrian  monu- 
ments. He  had  at  first  a  slow-stepping  horse.  But 
casting  in  bronze  offers  possibilities  which  execution 
in  marble  denies.  For  a  group  can  be  mounted  on  a 
relatively  small  base  without  endangering  the  safety 

63 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

of  the  monument.  Leonardo  was  not  afraid  to  be 
the  first  to  represent  the  horse  rearing,  and  thus 
throw  on  its  hind  legs  the  full  weight  both  of  steed 
and  rider. 

The  motive  is  here  a  rearing  horse.  To  give  it  a 
natural  look,  in  front  of  the  base  was  placed  a  warrior 
covering  himself  with  his  shield  to  ward  off  the  danger 
of  being  trampled  on.  The  monument  gained  thereby 
from  the  ideal  point  of  view,  in  that  a  natural  motive 
was  afforded  for  the  violent  action  of  the  horse.  So 
also  there  was  the  material  gain  of  securing  a  support 
for  the  fore  hoofs,  a  point  certainly  valuable  to 
Leonardo  as  a  technician. 

If  one  asks  himself  the  question,  which  type  was 
ultimately  chosen  in  the  definite  version  of  the  model, 
he  can  just  as  little  find  an  answer  to  it  as  to  the  other 
questions  concerning  the  details,  which,  nevertheless, 
are  so  important.  The  Duke  is  represented  in  one 
case  as  a  general  with  a  baton  in  his  outstretched  right 
hand,  which  is  pointing  rearwards — a  noble  conception 
of  the  glorified  figure  of  a  prince.  In  the  other  case 
he  is  represented  as  a  warrior  in  the  midst  of  the 
battle,  swinging  a  heavy  mace  as  if  he  meant  in  the 
next  moment  to  let  it  descend  with  a  thud  on  the 
head  of  his  recumbent  foe. 

These  general  notions  concerning  the  motive  seem 
to  have  pursued  Leonardo  long  after  the  abandonment 
of  his  work  on  the  Sforza  monument.  For  in  the 
studies,  which  are  now  supposed  to  have  been  made 
for  the  Trivulzio  monument,  the  same  motives  recur  : 
namely,  the  quietly  stepping  horse,  and  the  rearing 
charger  ;  and  in  keeping  with  them  the  rider  is  con- 
ceived either  as  a  marshal  leading  and  reviewing  his 
troops  in  the  field,  or  as  a  grim  warrior  in  the  press  of 
battle. 

But  in  the  monument  for  Trivulzio  the  steed  and 

64 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

rider  were  only  part  a  magnificent  plan.  Here  the 
verbal  account  and  the  sketches  complement  each 
other  in  an  unusually  harmonious  way.  In  the  "  Codex 
Atlanticus  "  is  to  be  found  under  the  heading — 
"  Tomb  for  Messer  Giovanni  Giacomo  Trivulzio,"  a 
careful  estimate  of  the  cost  which  at  once  considers 
two  alternatives — the  execution  of  the  equestrian 
figure  in  bronze,  or  in  marble.  Further  it  appears 
from  this  that  the  statue  was  to  rest  on  a  substructure 
of  eight  stone  pillars  with  bronze  capitals  :  the  open 
space  between  them  was  intended  for  a  sarcophagus 
with  a  figure  of  the  dead  above  it.  Around  the  base 
of  the  equestrian  statue  were  to  be  eight  figures  ;  and 
there  was  also  rich  sculptural  ornament,  consisting  of 
festoons  and  trophies,  designed  for  the  architectural 
portions. 

In  many  of  the  studies  (which  are  nearly  all  to  be 
found  in  the  Royal  Library  at  Windsor)  these  ideas 
can  be  recognized,  either  carried  out  almost  exactly  in 
accordance  with  the  plan,  or  varied.  The  lower 
portion  of  the  structure  is  invariably  designed  as  a 
tomb  which  serves  as  a  strong  pediment  for  the 
equestrian  statue.  This  occurs  in  both  forms — not 
only  for  the  calmly  majestic  figure,  but  also  for  the 
fiercely  excited  warrior.  The  contrast  of  the  restful 
sleeping  corpse  beneath  and  the  warrior  storming  in 
all  the  rapture  of  life  above  seems  to  have  exercised  a 
particular  charm  on  Leonardo's  fancy. 

The  architecture  appears  in  manifold  variations  : 
sometimes  as  a  circular  temple  surrounded  by  pillars 
which  reminds  one  of  Bramante's  Tempietto  in  Rome, 
sometimes  in  the  form  beloved  by  the  High  Renais- 
sance for  altar  frames.  As  regards  the  accessories,  one 
can  only  imagine  the  figures  sitting  round  the  base 
from  hastily  penned  sketches.  A  small  space  is  left 
for  them,  and  portions  of  their  bodies  rise  far  above 

E  65 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

the  architecture.  One  leg  is  drawn  up  towards  the 
breast,  the  other  hangs  down.  In  these  sketches  are 
found  postures  which  only  a  short  time  after  were 
adopted  by  a  congenial  master,  but  in  painting.  The 
figures  of  the  youths  on  the  ceiling  of  the  Sistine 
chapel — the  figures  which  are  sitting  opposite  to  each 
other,  resting  on  the  false  architecture — may  be  said 
to  have  been  anticipated  in  these  studies  of  Leonardo. 
Like  Michel  Angelo's  creations,  Leonardo's  figures 
may  be  called  "  slaves."  But  it  is  certain  that  they 
were  not  meant  to  symbolize  submission  to  the  power 
and  the  will  of  the  Marshal  galloping  above  their 
heads.  They  owe  their  origin  simply  to  the  soaring 
imagination  of  an  artist  who  thought  in  men's  forms. 

Even  if  we  are  thus  fairly  well  informed  about  the 
main  designs  of  these  monuments,  still  many  of  the 
details  remain  dim  for  us.  Above  all  we  have  no 
means  of  gaining  an  idea  of  the  sculptural  execution, 
as  we  possess  no  work  by  Leonardo's  hand  which 
enlightens  us  as  to  his  treatment  of  plastic  form. 

However,  many  other  fundamental  questions  arise 
and  remain  unanswered.  How  does  Leonardo  stand 
as  regards  faithful  portraiture  ?  Has  he,  like  Ver- 
rocchio,  taken  no  pains  to  make  a  true  copy  of  the 
exact  features,  and  only  expressed  in  the  imposing 
figure  of  a  ruler  the  general  tenor  of  the  life  of  the 
person  represented  ?  Certainly  this  is  the  best  mode 
of  solving  such  a  problem — namely  to  start  with  the 
individual,  and  divest  him  of  his  accidental  form,  and 
so  glorify  the  type  alone.  In  the  failure  to  rise  to 
this  level  is  mainly  founded  the  weakness  of  most 
modern  monuments. 

How  has  Leonardo  dealt  with  the  costume  ?  In 
some  of  the  sketches  the  rider  is  a  naked  figure  of 
youthful  and  heroic  form,  with  a  cloak  fluttering 
behind.  It  is  improbable  that  a  patron  like  Lodovico 
66 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

Moro  would  have  allowed  such  a  statue  to  be  raised 
in  honour  of  his  ancestor.  But  the  costume  would 
probably  not  have  been  a  faithful  copy  of  the  armour 
of  the  period.  The  mail  encircling  the  breast  would 
most  likely  have  been  adorned  with  fantastic  orna- 
ments, in  combination  with  weapons  of  antique 
design. 

Again  and  again  can  one  become  absorbed  in 
Leonardo's  preparatory  sketches,  which  give  us  a  key 
to  his  restlessly  active  imagination.  They  have  their 
value  not  only  for  the  man  who  loves  to  carry  his 
thoughts  back  to  things  of  the  past,  but  they  also 
contain  abundant  stimulus.  If  an  artist  could  be 
found,  capable  of  high  ideals,  he  might  with  the  help 
of  Leonardo's  studies  present  to  mankind  an  equestrian 
statue  destined  to  be  the  highest  type  of  that  form  of 
art.  One  is  readily  captivated  by  the  thought  that 
centuries  after  a  Milanese  Duke  had  planned  such  a 
work  and  the  greatest  genius  had  sketched  it,  it  might 
at  last  appear  in  the  pure  form  of  bronze. 

"  Fluat  aes ;  vox  erit,  '  Ecce  deus.'  " 


LA  VIERGE  AUX  ROCHERS 

FOR  altarpieces  representing  the  Madonna,  the 
fifteenth  century  favoured  a  severely  pro- 
portioned design  in  keeping  with  the  archi- 
tectural form  of  the  altar  frame.  In  this  a  place  is 
set  apart  for  a  saint  on  each  side  of  the  Madonna  who 
is  enthroned  in  the  centre.  It  was  the  privilege  of 
the  sixteenth  century  to  enliven  with  new  ideas  this 
type  which  had  long  been  faithfully  adhered  to.  But 
much  earlier  Leonardo  created  in  his  Vierge  aux 
rochets  an  altarpiece  which  has  no  equal  in  that  sphere. 

67 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

The  Madonna,  however,  was  not  always  depicted 
on  a  throne.  Sometimes  a  scene  was  chosen  in  which 
Mary  herself  appears  as  the  chief  worshipper  of  the 
Holy  Child.  Fra  Filippo  was  the  pioneer  in  this  path, 
and  painted  with  as  much  naivete  as  grace  the  Virgin 
kneeling  on  a  flowery  lawn  amid  the  mysterious  twilight 
of  a  fairy  forest.  How  often  does  one  find  variations 
of  this  in  after  times  !  Leonardo's  fellow  pupil,  Credi, 
used  this  fruitful  idea  more  than  any  other  Florentine  ; 
one  might  almost  say  that  he  used  it  like  a  manufac- 
turer. 

Leonardo's  creation  differs  remarkably  from  this 
Florentine  theme.  He  enriches  the  group  and  di- 
minishes it  at  the  same  time.  John  the  Baptist  as  a 
boy,  and  an  angel  appear  together  with  the  Madonna 
and  the  infant  Christ  as  essential  factors  of  a  wonder- 
fully designed  picture.  But  he  has  avoided  the  stop- 
gap figures  which  so  often  occur  in  the  pictures  of 
Credi  and  others.  The  clearly  pronounced  form  of 
an  isosceles  triangle  encloses  the  four  figures,  the  head 
of  the  Madonna  forming  the  apex.  So  much  for  the 
outline.  As  far  as  is  possible  in  a  picture,  the  figures 
are  united  by  gestures  and  looks.  The  Madonna  is 
extending  her  hand  in  blessing  over  the  head  of  the 
infant  Christ.  At  the  same  time  her  right  hand  clasps 
the  kneeling  boy  John,  as  if  she  would  take  her  son's 
forerunner  under  her  protection.  This  thought  is 
rendered  more  apparent  by  reason  of  her  widespread 
cloak.  Beneath  her  drooping  eyelids  the  glance  of  the 
Madonna  seems  to  wander  from  one  to  the  other. 
Again  the  children  are  closely  connected  by  the 
reverence  of  the  one  and  the  benediction  on  the  part 
of  the  other.  How  humble  and  yet  how  trustful 
John  appears  !  How  wise  is  the  look  in  the  open  eyes 
of  Christ  ! 

The  harmony  of  the  group  is  to  some  extent  broken 

68 


l/aii/ifacn/^L 


THE   VIRGIN    OF   THE    ROCKS    (NATIONAL  GALLERY). 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

by  the  figure  of  the  angel  who  supports  the  infant 
Christ  and  directs  the  spectator's  attention  to  the 
young  John.  His  hand  with  the  outstretched  fore- 
finger seems  to  be  out  of  place  between  the  head  of 
Christ  and  the  hand  of  the  Mother  who  is  blessing 
Him.  These  two  motives,  namely,  the  outward  glance 
and  the  pointing  hand,  are  intimately  connected. 
They  have  a  meaning,  perhaps  not  quite  compre- 
hensible, unless  we  suppose  that  Leonardo's  effort  to 
give  each  figure  its  own  peculiar  and  expressive  effect 
has  here  led  him  a  step  too  far. 

In  face  of  the  finished  picture  Leonardo  himself 
must  have  felt  that  this  attitude  had  a  disturbing 
effect.  Only  on  this  ground  can  be  explained  the 
fact  that  in  the  second  version  of  the  picture — now  in 
the  National  Gallery — ^an  important  alteration  was 
made.  In  this  work  the  angel  uses  both  hands  to 
support  the  Child  and  looks  towards  the  little  John. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  the  composition  thereby 
gained  in  point  of  harmony.  But  strictly  speaking 
the  angel  has  become  superfluous,  and  serves  only  as 
a  stop-gap  to  round  off  the  linear  ground  form  of  the 
picture. 

Nevertheless,  this  alteration,  as  being  a  sort  of  self- 
correction  on  the  part  of  a  master  of  Leonardo's  rank, 
is  worthy  of  the  deepest  attention.  It  proves  also 
what  an  active  part  he  took  in  the  reproduction  which 
was  made  by  the  hand  of  Ambrogio  de  Predis,  his 
colleague  in  the  adornment  of  the  altar  of  San  Fran- 
cesco. Other  trifling  differences  between  the  two 
versions  may  here  be  passed  over. 

The  landscape  which  surrounds  them  is  as  original 
as  the  figures  themselves.  The  older  art  too  had 
shown  a  preference  for  a  landscape  as  background  for 
the  Adoration  of  the  Child,  Sometimes  it  consists 
merely  of  a  thick  rose  hedge  enclosing  a  quiet  snug 

69 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

nook,  and  preventing  the  external  world  from  gazing 
on  the  private  life  of  the  Holy  Family.  Sometimes 
beautiful  and  gorgeous  hill  scenery  is  revealed,  as  in 
the  pictures  of  Ghirlandajo,  Credi  and  Perugino. 

None  of  these  artists  v^^ould  have  hit  upon  the  idea 
which  Leonardo  conceived  throughout  as  a  poet. 
Only  Fra  Filippo's  mystic  sylvan  twilight  can  in  any 
way  suggest  the  rocky  cavern  which  Leonardo  has 
depicted  in  the  background.  Just  as  on  the  figures  in 
the  foreground  light  and  shade  are  interchanged  in 
the  most  charming  fashion,  so  in  the  background  the 
eye  plunges  deeper  and  deeper  into  dusk.  Rocks  over- 
hang threateningly.  Between  them  can  be  seen  the 
cavern  which  seems  to  owe  its  existence  to  the  whim 
of  Nature.  One  can  see  the  soft  gleam  of  the  sky, 
and  finally  wide  stretches  of  meadow,  stream  and  rock 
fading  into  the  dim  distance.  It  is  a  landscape  vision 
such  as  had  appeared  already  in  the  picture  of  St. 
Jerome,  and  is  used  with  consummate  art  in  the 
pictures  of  Mona  Lisa  and  Saint  Anna. 

How  much  of  the  enchantment  of  this  picture  is 
due  merely  to  this  fairy-like  background  each  careful 
inspection  will  teach  anew.  Leonardo  had  penetrated 
deeply  into  the  organization  of  Nature,  whether  as  a 
result  of  scientific  or  of  artistic  interest  it  is  difficult  to 
say.  Accordingly  he  was  able  to  present  in  this 
picture  a  faithful  image  of  her  activity  both  on  a 
grand  and  on  a  small  scale.  Next  to  the  splendid 
formation  of  the  rocks,  we  notice  the  minute  fidelity 
with  which  he  painted  the  flowers  that  spring  up 
between  the  figures  in  the  foreground,  just  as  the 
Homeric  fancy  made  flowers  spring  up  where  the  gods 
wander. 

Compared  with  the  figures  of  the  Adoration  of  the 
Kings,  Leonardo's  art  seems  to  have  matured  wonder- 
fully. It  is  at  once  simpler  and  grander.  Hence  the 
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LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

perfect  grace  of  the  figures  in  the  various  periods  of 
life  depicted.  Indeed  only  the  busts  of  children  made 
in  the  Quattrocento  can  be  compared  to  these  two 
childish  figures.  All  others  would  appear  crude  in 
comparison.  Even  Perugino's  much-admired  children 
would  seem  devoid  of  character  and  natural  charm. 
The  best  of  child  painters  must  be  brought  into  com- 
petition, among  whom  perhaps  Correggio  alone  can 
confront  Leonardo  on  equal  terms  in  reproducing 
childlike  expression. 

Works,  in  which  the  graceful  and  the  pleasing  pre- 
dominate, must  possess  a  high  degree  of  artistic  great- 
ness to  escape  having  an  insipid  and  wearisome  effect. 
Correggio's  art  has  succumbed  to  this  fate.  This 
explains  why  the  eighteenth  century  overrated  him 
just  as  much  as  the  following  century  unduly  depre- 
ciated him. 

Leonardo's  creation,  on  the  contrary,  is  full  of  im- 
pressive grace,  yet  quite  free  from  any  such  weakness. 
In  his  children  is  exhibited  an  ideal  type  of  childish 
innocence  ;  in  Mary  is  shown  the  perfection  of 
motherhood  ;  in  the  figure  of  the  angel  is  embodied 
the  standard  of  youthful  beauty.  Moreover  in  the 
silver  point  drawing  in  Turin,  which  is  a  study  for  the 
angel's  head,  a  degree  of  beauty  is  attained  which  is 
almost  unique  in  art.  Even  in  Leonardo's  works  few 
analogies  are  to  be  found. 

If  one  considers  the  high  qualities  of  the  Fierge  aux 
rochers^  the  clear  simplicity  of  the  arrangement,  the 
eloquence  of  'the  expression  whereby  a  few  gestures  are 
made  to  reveal  an  active  correlation  between  the 
figures,  if  one  carefully  examines  the  delineation  of  the 
forms,  he  will  assign  to  this  work  a  place  next  to  the 
Last  Supper.  The  subject  is  entirely  different,  but 
the  artistic  spirit  which  conceived  and  executed  both 
works  is  the  same.    Only  a  short  time  can  have  passed 

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LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 


after  the  completion  of  the  altarpiece  for  San  Francesco 
before  Leonardo  began  work  on  the  Last  Supfer, 


THE  LAST  SUPPER 

LEONARDO  was  between  forty  and  fifty  years 
of  age  when  he  created  the  work  which 
already  appeared  to  his  own  generation  as 
the  climax  of  his  artistic  activity.  Yet  neither  in 
range  of  subject,  nor  in  the  number  of  its  figures,  does 
it  occupy  the  first  place  among  his  paintings.  Long 
before  this  the  subject  had  begun  to  engage  his  atten- 
tion— at  the  time  that  he  was  preparing  his  picture  of 
the  Adoration  of  the  Kings.  A  drawing  in  the  Louvre 
gives  the  key  to  these  studies  :  three  figures  are  sitting 
at  a  table  engaged  in  animated  talk ;  further  off 
another  is  listening  ;  a  fifth  is  springing  up  from  his 
seat  ;  Christ  Himself  is  shown  apart,  pointing  to  the 
dish.  All  these  figures  are  nude  and  drawn  with  the 
same  graceful  mobility  of  the  limbs  as  marks  the 
assembled  figures  on  the  drawings  for  the  Adoration  of 
the  Kings, 

In  Florence  to-day,  pictures  of  the  Last  Supper  can 
still  often  be  found  on  the  end  wall  of  refectories 
fronting  the  doorway.  Pious  custom  has  chosen  this 
scene  as  the  sole  ornament  of  the  room  in  which 
the  members  of  a  conventual  community  assemble 
daily,  with  the  purpose  that  it  might  serve  as  an 
example.  The  type  which  in  time  became  predomi- 
nant may  be  seen  in  its  most  marked  form  in  Ghir- 
landajo's  fresco  in  Ognissanti  (painted  in  the  year  1480). 
Its  chief  characteristic  is  that  Judas  is  isolated  from 
the  other  Apostles  and  sits  on  the  other  side  of  the 
table  with  his  back  turned  to  the  onlooker. 

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LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

This  scheme  Leonardo  retained  in  his  red  chalk 
drawing  in  the  Venetian  Academy.  This  study  is 
highly  impressive  in  the  action  of  the  figures  ;  but  is 
so  weak,  even  positively  bad,  in  the  details,  that  it  can 
only  be  regarded  as  a  copy  of  a  genuine  sheet.  Another 
peculiarity  of  the  conventional  form  is  also  retained  in 
this  sketch,  namely,  that  John  appears  sleeping  with  his 
head  on  the  table. 

It  is  well  known  that  Leonardo  based  his  picture  on 
Christ's  words,  "  One  of  you  shall  betray  me."  But 
that  this  reproach  occurred  to  him  as  the  most  fertile 
motive  only  after  long  and  varied  consideration  is 
shown  by  a  third  sketch  (at  Windsor).  In  this  the 
moment  chosen  seems  to  be  that  in  which  Judas — 
again  in  front  of  the  table — dips  his  hand  into  the  dish 
at  the  same  time  as  Jesus,  immediately  after  those 
other  words  of  Christ — "  Whosoever  dippeth  his  hand 
with  me  in  the  dish,  the  same  shall  betray  me." 

The  completed  fresco  must  be  compared  with  all 
earlier  pictures  of  the  Last  Supper  and  with  Leonardo's 
own  preliminary  studies.  Only  thus  can  be  discerned 
the  immense,  almost  inexpressible  superiority  of  Leo- 
nardo's genius.  But  at  the  same  time  one  can  see 
that  it  was  only  by  degrees  that  Leonardo  broke  free 
from  the  trammels  of  tradition  and  arrived  at  his  own 
conception  of  the  form.  What  Leonardo  actually 
portrayed  in  his  picture  was,  the  effect  of  a  word  on  a 
group  of  men  ;  how  the  same  cause  affected  the  indi- 
vidual differently  according  to  temperament  and  age  ; 
and  lastly,  how  such  an  effect  finds  its  visible  expression 
in  eloquent  gestures.  Only  once  before  had  an  artist 
attempted  this.  That  artist  was  Andrea  del  Castagno, 
whose  Last  Suffer  in  St.  Apollonia  is  worthy  of  the 
most  careful  inspection,  as  it  is  one  of  the  most 
singular  works  of  the  Quattrocento.  But  he  was  too 
much  engrossed  in  the  effort  to  give  natural  animation 

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LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

to  the  single  figures,  to  bring  the  whole  into  a  com- 
bined effect. 

Leonardo's  Last  Supper  has  been  described  countless 
times.  Among  such  descriptions  Goethe's  stands  pre- 
eminent, and  is  everywhere  celebrated  as  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  appreciations  of  art.  It  may  suffice 
here  to  point  out  which  motives  distinguish  the  com- 
position, first  catch  the  eye  and  live  longest  in  the 
memory. 

First  of  all  let  us  consider  the  scene  of  the  picture. 
It  is  most  simple — merely  a  pictorial  extension  of  the 
walls  of  the  refectory,  the  monotonous  white  of  which 
is  broken  by  regular  squares  of  tapestry.  The  ceiling 
is  coffered.  The  end  wall  has  three  openings  on  the 
landscape.  The  advantage  of  this  from  an  artistic 
point  of  view  is  that  while  a  very  dark  background  is 
gained,  it  is  at  certain  spots  relieved  by  strong  lights. 
The  two  long  walls  also  have  different  light.  The  one 
on  the  right  directly  facing  the  sun  is  illumined  by  a 
gradually  decreasing  light.  The  simple  straight  lines 
of  the  floor  lead  the  eye  unconsciously  to  the  depth  of 
the  scene.  Each  effect  is  here  produced  by  the 
simplest  means.  The  desired  end  is  perfectly  attained. 
While  Castagno,  despite  the  employment  of  really 
brilliant  tricks  of  perspective,  only  produces  a  confused 
result.  Leonardo  had  no  wish  to  bewilder  by  secon- 
dary effects,  like  the  Quattrocentist. 

A  great  difficulty  both  of  line  and  colour  in  the 
treatment  of  this  subject  must  be  presented  by  the 
table.  For  the  whole  picture  is  intersected  at  the 
centre  by  the  parallel  horizontal  lines,  while  a  large 
white  surface  is  brought  into  the  immediate  fore- 
ground, and  at  once  attracts  the  eye.  What  powers 
must  have  been  exerted  to  neutralize  these  extrinsic 
but  inevitable  factors  1 

Everything  else  seems  perfectly  subordinate  from 

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LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

the  moment  that  the  attention  turns  to  the  grouping 
of  the  figures.  To  show  how  a  word  impresses  the 
spirit  of  a  group  of  persons,  and  affects  them  in 
entirely  different  ways,  gesture  is  indispensable.  One 
must  also  bear  in  mind  what  meaning  gesture  has  for 
the  Italian,  how  many  things  he  can  express  with 
a  turn  of  the  hand,  while  such  plastic  accompani- 
ment of  the  spoken  word  is  mostly  denied  to  the 
Northerner. 

But  there  is  a  near  danger  that  the  subject  may  be 
treated  episodically,  lest  the  individual  motives  arrest 
the  attention  of  the  onlooker  too  strongly  and  prevent 
him  from  feeling  the  effect  of  the  whole.  Again  one 
may  point  to  Andrea  del  Castagno's  picture,  in  which 
every  single  figure  is  interesting  in  itself,  but  the  inner 
connexion  is  missed  ;  to  say  nothing  of  Ghirlandajo, 
whose  weakness  is  pitilessly  exposed  by  such  com- 
parison. But  Leonardo  overcomes  the  danger  arising 
from  his  many  figures  by  the  repose  of  his  main  lines. 
The  eye  of  the  observer  can  mentally  connect  all  the 
figures  with  one  inclusive  line.  Such  a  line  is  even 
and  gently  undulating  with  regularly  recurring  breaks, 
only  here  and  there  interrupted  by  slight  deviations 
to  avoid  wearisome  regularity. 

The  twelve  disciples  of  Christ  fall  into  groups  of 
three.  None  of  Leonardo's  predecessors  in  painting 
the  Last  Supper  had  hit  upon  this  idea.  This  arrange- 
ment only  became  possible  when  Judas  was  freed  from 
his  isolation  and  brought  into  closer  connexion  with 
the  other  figures.  Each  group  of  three  is  closely  knit 
together  by  line  and  seems  to  be  filled  with  a  common 
life.  Only  Judas  is  isolated  with  great  subtlety  ;  not 
with  the  coarseness  of  the  old  masters,  but  neverthe- 
less with  quite  as  much  distinctness.  His  is  the  only 
figure,  the  upper  part  of  whose  body  is  bent  far  over 
the  table.    Supported  on  his  right  forearm  he  thrusts 

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LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 


himself  sideways  to  the  front  of  the  picture.  Never- 
theless, his  glance  is  fixed  solely  on  Christ. 

The  several  groups  in  turn  are  combined  in  quite  a 
natural  and  unobtrusive  v^ay.  At  two  points  uncon- 
nected groups  come  together.  In  ordinary  course  a 
break  must  have  occurred  in  each  case  resembling  the 
caesura  in  verses.  But  in  what  a  simple,  forever  note- 
v^orthy  fashion  has  Leonardo  circumvented  this  diffi- 
culty. Philip  and  Matthew^  (the  third  and  fourth 
Apostles  on  Christ's  left  hand)  turn  to  opposite  sides, 
both  v^ith  vigorous  gestures.  But  at  the  same  time 
Matthev^  is  pointing  tow^ards  the  centre,  and  thus 
three  figures  are  brought  into  union  with  the  rest  of 
the  picture.  The  hand  which  James  is  laying  on 
Peter's  shoulder  has  like  importance  in  the  composition. 
Thus  each  feature  reveals  unequalled  subtlety. 

In  all  older  pictures  John,  the  disciple  who  lay  on 
the  Lord's  breast  at  supper,"  is  closely  united  with 
Christ.  That  makes  it  impossible  for  Christ  to  stand 
forth  at  once  as  the  actual  middle  point,  despite  the 
fact  that  He  naturally  has  a  place  in  the  centre.  Here, 
too,  by  abandoning  tradition,  Leonardo  gained  an 
infinite  advantage.  Christ  is  the  only  one  who  is 
alone  and  apart  from  the  rest.  All  movements,  all 
gestures,  however,  are  calculated  with  regard  to  Him. 
If  the  spectator  follows  the  looks,  and  the  pointing 
hands,  his  eye  will  ever  be  led  back  to  the  centre. 

Another  point  too  has  an  important  effect.  On 
entering  a  room  the  eye  is  at  once  unconsciously 
drawn  to  the  source  of  light — to  the  window.  Simi- 
larly the  eye  of  one  who  sees  this  picture  is  at  once 
mechanically  attracted  to  the  small  wall  with  the 
openings,  and  particularly  to  the  broader  central 
opening  which  discloses  a  long  strip  of  pale  landscape 
under  a  clear  sky.  In  the  chiaroscuro,  Christ's  head, 
with  long  curls  falling  to  the  shoulders,  stands  out 

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LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

against  this  ground,  whose  clear  light  surrounds  him 
as  it  were  with  a  halo,  not  of  dazzling  brilHance,  but 
softly  radiant.  The  light  thus  also  brings  this  figure 
into  stronger  relief  than  all  the  others. 

And  yet  how  easily  the  harmony  of  the  whole  effect 
might  have  been  spoiled  !  One  perceives  how  much 
is  gained  by  the  fact  that  all  the  heads  are  very  nearly 
of  the  same  height.  Even  the  figures  that  appear 
standing  lean  so  far  forward  that  they  scarcely  rise 
above  the  level  of  the  others'  heads.  The  least 
deviation  would  have  been  enough  to  break  the 
harmony.  Very  instructive  is  a  glance  from^  this 
picture  to  Sarto's  Last  Supper  in  San  Salvi,  naost  justly 
extolled  on  account  of  its  magnificent  details.  In  it 
three  figures  are  standing.  Thereby  an  entirely  un- 
justifiable importance  is  given  to  them,  although  they 
only  play  the  same  role  as  the  other  ten.  Besides, 
what  slight  prominence  is  given  to  the  figure  of  Christ 
in  this  picture. 

Never  again  perhaps  has  an  artist  solved  a  problem 
so  thoroughly  and  decisively  as  Leonardo  has  done 
here.  On  every  occasion  since  that  a  picture  of  the 
Last  Supper  has  been  attempted,  the  unapproachable 
model  has  been  reflected  in  individual  features.  Often 
we  perceive  that  an  artist  has  consciously  endeavoured 
to  express  something  other  than  that  which  Leonardo 
has  done  before  him.  But  the  invariable  result  is  a 
feeble  copy  of  the  model. 

Leonardo's  Last  Supper  has  come  down  to  us  in  an 
utterly  ruinous  state.  Besides  the  mutilation  of  the 
Parthenon  sculptures,  mankind  has  scarcely  another 
loss  of  equal  magnitude  to  record.  Even  this  ruin, 
however,  can  reveal  much  to  the  eye  of  the  intelligent 
observer.  No  copy  or  reproduction  can  give  even  an 
approximate  idea  of  the  original,  which  alone  can 
teach  the  subtleties  of  chiaroscuro.    If  one,  however, 

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LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

goes  fully  into  its  details,  and  regards  the  forms  of  the 
heads  and  the  shape  of  the  hands,  it  seems  as  if  every 
trace  of  Leonardo's  genius  is  lost  in  the  copies,  although 
some  of  them  were  made  very  soon  after.  Even  to- 
day the  original  has  beauties  to  reveal,  which  not  one 
of  the  copyists  had  the  skill  to  transcribe. 

But  he  who  wishes  to  gain  an  idea  how  once  these 
incomparable  figures  appeared  to  the  eye,  must  submit 
the  existing  studies  to  a  careful  inspection.  Three  are 
extant,  al  lin  Windsor,  namely,  the  studies  for  Judas, 
Philip  and  Matthew.  Character  and  beauty  are 
combined  in  them  with  unequalled  skill.  An  entire 
temperament  is  depicted  in  each.  What  a  group  of 
heroic  figures  !  One  can  understand  from  them  how 
the  anecdote  arose  that  Leonardo  did  not  finish  the 
Christ  because  he  himself  thought  it  impossible  to 
surpass  such  wealth  of  expression  and  such  nobility  of 
form. 

Even  Judas  is  painted  in  truly  splendid  form  ;  not 
as  the  paltry  villain  one  is  accustomed  to  see  elsewhere, 
but  as  an  extraordinary  force.  He  is  the  Evil  principle 
in  opposition  to  the  Good,  which  withstands  the 
divine  might  with  splendid  obstinacy — a  figure  like 
Capaneus  in  Dante's  fourteenth  canto,  or  like  Goethe's 
Mephistopheles.  .  .  . 

In  the  seventeenth  century  a  Milanese  author  in  a 
noble  simile  compared  the  wreck  of  the  Last  Supper 
to  "  the  sun  at  the  close  of  day,  whose  setting  beams 
shine  with  ineffectual  fire,  but  still  reveal  their  former 
power  and  brilliance."  It  lies  in  the  inclination  of 
men  to  make  comparisons  of  works  of  art.  But  when 
we  speak  of  the  highest  which  art  has  created,  we  need 
a  simile  of  nature.  For  the  supreme  creations  of 
genius  are  like  her,  eternal  and  imperishable. 


78 


STUDY    FOR    TfiE   ST.  ANNA  (VENiCE). 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 


THE  "SAINT  ANNA" 

A  GAIN  and  again  the  same  observation  can  be 
made  regarding  Leonardo's  compositions, 
namely,  that  he  arrived  at  the  final  concep- 
tion only  after  repeated  trials  and  changes.  But  in 
the  end  he  gave  to  his  pictures  a  form  v^herein  the 
subject  in  each  case  received  the  happiest  imaginable 
treatment  from  the  artistic  point  of  view.  The  Last 
Supper  and  the  Adoration  can  be  found  in  various 
earlier  efforts.  The  case  is  the  same  v^ith  the  Saint 
Anna  v^hose  final  form  is  preserved  for  us  by  the 
picture  in  the  Louvre. 

In  the  Academy  of  Venice  is  a  pen  and  ink  sketch 
by  Leonardo — a  genre  piece  full  of  dreamy  grace. 
Mary  is  drawn  in  profile  as  a  very  young  maiden.  She 
sits  on  the  lap  of  Saint  Anna,  tightly  clasping  the 
Child,  who  leans  far  forward  to  play  with  the 
Lamb.  In  this  picture  all  is  idyllic,  and  a  land- 
scape, traced  with  hasty  strokes,  forms  with  its  soft 
lines  the  best  setting  for  the  image  of  bright  family 
happiness. 

This  scene  is  drawn  in  the  same  spirit  as  the  sketches 
of  the  Madonna  with  the  Cat,  It  is  the  outcome  of  a 
perception  which  regards  everything  serene,  pleasing 
and  beautiful.  Still  nearer  to  it  stands  a  drawing 
which  is  one  of  the  finest  that  we  possess  by  Leonardo. 
It  represents  a  maiden  saint  with  a  unicorn  lying  at 
her  feet.  It  is  drawn  on  the  back  of  a  sheet  (in  the 
British  Museum),  covered  with  studies  for  the  Madonna 
with  the  Cat,  It  is  faintly  outlined  with  hasty  pen- 
strokes,  yet  the  forms  are  distinct  and  thoroughly 
impressive  by  reason  of  their  lofty  grace.    This  com- 

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LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

position  is  enclosed  hy  lines,  and  conceived  quite  in 
the  form  of  a  picture. 

When  Leonardo,  after  hiS'  return  to  his  native  city, 
resumed  v^ork  on  his  picture  of  Saint  Anna,  he  must 
already  have  chosen  in  the  cartoon  which  he  then 
made,  the  form  now^  familiar  through  the  Louvre 
picture  and  numerous  old  copies  from  the  school  in 
Milan.  From  this  form  the  cartoon  in  the  London 
Royal  Academy  differs  entirely.  In  it  the  Madonna 
is  so  posed  that  one  scarcely  sees  that  she  is  sitting  on 
the  lap  of  Saint  Anna.  The  upper  portions  of  the 
w^omen's  bodies  are  drav^n  close  together  and  their 
heads  are  on  the  same  level.  Anna  is  smiling  at  Mary, 
v^ho  on  her  part  looks  dow^n  v^ith  a  smile  on  the  young 
John  the  Baptist  who  is  doing  homage  to  the  Child. 
Both  children  are  looking  seriously  at  each  other,  and 
Christ  is  slowly  raising  His  hand  in  blessing. 

Through  this  motive  the  solemn  tone  of  the  de- 
votional picture  is  awakened.  One  notices  secondly 
that  Anna  is  pointing  upwards  with  raised  hand  and 
outstretched  forefinger.  The  thoughts  of  the  on- 
looker are  transported  from  the  earthly  present  to  the 
heavenly  future. 

The  composition  is  marked  by  the  repose  and  purity 
of  its  forms  and  the  charm  and  freedom  of  its  drapery 
effects.  The  staid,  calm  expression  of  the  heads  could 
not  easily  be  surpassed.  Still  it  cannot  be  denied  that, 
owing  to  the  addition  of  the  figure  of  John,  the  repose 
of  the  external  contour  of  the  whole  picture  has  been 
deranged.  The  eye  is  attracted  too  strongly  to  the 
right  side  ;  a  space  remains  unfilled  above  the  Child's 
figure  ;  the  heads  of  the  two  women  are  too  near  each 
other,  and  too  much  on  a  level.  In  short,  the  com- 
position is  not  well  rounded  off. 

If  one  compares  this  style  of  treatment  with  that 
on  which  Leonardo  decided  later,  it  seems  impossible 
80 


Braun  Ckxieut. 


ST.  ANNA  (LOUVRE). 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

that  this  London  cartoon  can  have  been  made  after 
the  other.  But  through  the  indisputable  testimony 
of  a  contemporary,  we  know  that  the  only  work  which 
Leonardo  executed,  on  his  first  return  to  Florence, 
was  a  cartoon  which  in  its  main  features  must  have 
corresponded  exactly  to  the  picture  in  the  Louvre. 

The  natural  aesthetic  inference  seems  difficult  to 
reconcile  with  the  facts.  To  judge  from  its  refined 
form  the  cartoon  in  London  cannot  well  belong  to  an 
early  period  like  the  drawing  in  Venice.  The  heads 
of  the  holy  women  with  their  gentle,  faintly  per- 
ceptible smiles,  remind  us  directly  of  the  portrait  of 
Mona  Lisa.  The  pointing  hand  of  Anna  is  almost 
exactly  like  the  remarkable  hand  of  the  Apostle  Thomas 
in  the  Last  Suffer,  One  must  in  consequence  decide, 
either  that  Leonardo  had  already  prepared  the  subject 
for  painting  before  he  left  Milan,  or  else  that  the 
cartoon  with  the  young  John  was  drawn  after  the 
picture  of  the  Child  with  the  Lamb.  In  other  words, 
we  are  to  assume  that  after  Leonardo  had  already 
fixed  on  the  chaste  rounded  form  for  his  composition, 
he  abandoned  it  to  waste  his  fine  powers  on  a  far  less 
happy  scheme.  Must  we  not  then  conclude  that  the 
picture  of  Saint  Anna  received  the  classically  finished 
form  which  we  see  in  the  Louvre  only  after  long  years 
of  work  ;  and  that  the  Venetian  sketch  is  the  earliest, 
and  the  London  cartoon  an  intermediate  stage  in  the 
course  ? 

Like  the  Vierge  aux  tochers^  in  its  final  treatment 
the  composition  is  arranged  in  the  form  of  an  acute- 
angled  triangle.  With  wonderful  skill  Leonardo  has 
softened  the  rigidity  of  the  severe  lines  of  the  ground 
form.  The  lines  of  the  landscape  obviously  serve  to 
counteract  their  effect,  especially  the  gently  undulat- 
ing horizontal  line  which  sets  off  the  centre  ground 
dark  against  the   distant   background.    The  three 

F  8i 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

figures  are  united  in  the  most  natural  way.  The 
Madonna  and  the  Child  find  their  bond  of  union  in 
their  merry  play  :  they  smile  at  each  other,  while 
above  the  head  of  Mary,  St.  Anna  looks  down  on  the 
group  with  gentle  radiant  countenance.  Mark  care- 
fully how  finely  toned  is  the  smile  in  these  three 
figures,  in  keeping  with  the  age  of  each.  In  the  case 
of  the  older  woman,  it  is  calm  and  faintly  visible  as  in 
the  portrait  of  Mona  Lisa.  The  Madonna's  smile  is 
heartfelt,  bearing  witness  to  the  mother's  joy.  The 
Child  has  the  beaming  smile  of  infancy. 

While  fully  conscious  of  all  this  charm,  we  are 
forced  to  realize  that  we  have  before  us  the  repre- 
sentation of  a  quite  unpleasing  theme.  The  subject 
in  question  is  dealt  with  in  the  fashion  required  by 
tradition,  and  the  theme  is  nothing  less  than  one 
grown-up  person  sitting  on  the  lap  of  another.  In 
fact  in  the  theme  there  is  something  ridiculous  and 
mawkish  which  might  seem  to  preclude  it  from  artistic 
treatment. 

From  the  period  of  the  Florentine  Quattrocento 
there  is  a  picture  of  Saint  Anna  by  Masaccio,  which  is 
unusually  sublime.  The  Madonna  is  enthroned. 
Above  her,  one  does  not  see  exactly  where,  sits  Anna. 
She  blesses  the  Child.  Thereby  at  least  an  external 
connexion  is  shown  between  her  and  the  group 
below.  One  sees  that  this  arrangement  is  a  make- 
shift to  avoid  the  difficulty.  It  is  therefore  easy  to 
explain  why  Masaccio  in  this  work  appears  more  old- 
fashioned  and  confused  than  in  any  other  picture  that 
we  know  by  him. 

Such  a  comparison  with  the  work  of  a  genius  of 
Masaccio's  standing  sets  Leonardo's  wonderful  com- 
position in  the  brightest  light.  Not  only  does  the 
pose  of  the  figures  seem  to  be  clearly  motivated  and 
developed  without  constraint,  but  the  charm  of  the 
82 


STUDY   OF   DRAPERY   FOR   THE   ST.  ANNA  (LOUVRE.) 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

line  play  is  so  great  that  the  strange  arrangement  is 
only  observed  long  after.  Again  and  again  the  respon- 
sive eye  v^ill  rest  on  the  fine  action  of  the  Madonna, 
v^hich  is  pleasingly  repeated  in  the  Child,  or  note  the 
easy  fall  of  the  drapery.  To  speak  of  details  in  this 
case  is  more  superfluous  than  in  any  picture  by 
Leonardo,  w^hether  it  be  concerning  the  distribution 
of  light  and  shade  on  the  figures,  or  on  the  landscape 
which  fades  into  the  calm  background. 

Leonardo's  picture  remained  unfinished  :  not  in- 
deed to  such  an  extent  that  there  can  be  any  doubt 
regarding  the  solution  of  the  problem,  but  the  final 
perfection  of  the  details  v^hich,  it  may  be  said,  played 
a  great  part  in  all  w^orks  of  the  master  v^as  here  omitted. 
In  the  Louvre  is  a  drapery  study  for  the  Madonna's 
cloak.  Here  one  can  see  w^ith  v^hat  skill  Leonardo 
could  put  life  into  his  material ;  hov^  he  could  preserve 
the  main  features  and  trace  the  finest  details,  yet 
flood  the  w^hole  v^^ith  a  mystic  charm  of  light,  v^hich 
makes  this  drawling  in  itself  a  perfect  v^ork  of  the 
highest  pictorial  finish.  On  comparing  this  sketch 
with  early  dress  studies  by  Leonardo,  one  can  see  how 
even  in  this  respect  he  had  risen  to  highest  simplicity, 
— to  classical  perfection.  Perhaps  the  only  thing 
comparable  to  it  among  all  the  art  treasures  of  the 
world  is  the  drapery  of  the  Dew  sisters  "  on  the 
Parthenon  pediment. 


LEDA 

IN  the  midst  of  Leonardo's  creations  which  all 
deal  with  ecclesiastical  subjects,  the  composi- 
tion of  the  Leda  stands  alone.    Only  this  once 
has  he  treated  a  mythological  subject  in  an  age  of 

83 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

amateurs,  who  already  showed  a  strong  preference  for 
such  pictures  as  ornaments  for  their  dwelling-rooms. 

But  if  one  turns  his  attention  from  the  subject  and 
regards  only  the  compositional  form  which  Leonardo 
gave  to  his  picture,  the  Leda  is  found  to  be  most 
closely  related  to  his  other  Florentine  works  of  the 
same  period.  For  the  same  general  ideas  distinguish 
and  govern  it. 

The  final  form  of  the  Standing  Leda  must  have  been 
found  after  manifold  essays,  before  he  left  Florence. 
But  the  cartoon,  or  whatever  outward  shape  his 
design  took,  can  only  have  been  seen  for  a  very  short 
time  in  Florence.  For  even  in  Vasari's  day  it  was 
quite  forgotten  that  Leonardo  ever  had  done  such  a 
work. 

It  must  have  been  finally  executed  during  the  last 
years  of  the  artist's  life.  The  picture  was  hung  in 
Fontainebleau.  But  later  it  probably  fell  a  victim  to 
misdirected  morality.  However,  in  addition  to  pre- 
liminary sketches,  several  old  copies  give  us  an  adequate 
idea  of  the  composition  as  a  whole.  The  best  known 
of  these  copies  is  to  be  found  in  the  Borghese  Gallery. 

Leonardo's  original  conception  must  have  been  a 
naked  woman  kneeling  in  the  middle  of  a  meadow. 
This  attitude  gave  a  delightful  opportunity  for  con- 
triving a  series  of  undulating  overlapping  forms.  The 
weight  of  the  body  rests  on  one  knee,  the  other  leg  is 
supported  on  the  foot  and  only  the  arms  stretch  out 
to  one  side.  In  this  earliest  drawing  (at  Windsor)  the 
swan  seems  not  to  have  figured  at  all  :  while  the 
woman  stretches  out  her  hand  to  the  left  to  hold  or 
support  a  child.  Perhaps  Leonardo  thought  that  the 
overlapping  lines  of  this  figure  were  not  sufficiently 
reticent,  and  so  abandoned  this  form  of  the  composi- 
tion. 

Ihe  figure  of  Leda  is  next  represented  almost  full 

84 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 


face,  kneeling  with  the  left  leg  slightly  raised.  She 
inclines  towards  her  children,  who  are  in  the  high 
reeds  just  issuing  from  their  shells.  At  the  same  time 
she  turns  and  embraces  the  neck  of  the  swan.  This 
pose  reveals  the  beauties  of  her  finely  developed  body, 
which  is  drawn  in  many  supple  curving  lines.  The 
sketch  is  in  Weimar. 

From  this  time  onward  Leonardo  is  possessed  by  a 
conception  for  which  he  seeks  to  gain  an  ideal  solution. 
His  object  is  to  combine  the  lines  of  the  woman's  body 
and  of  the  swan  in  undulating  curves.  A  woman's 
figure  offers  many  such  lines  :  in  the  case  of  the  swan 
the  neck,  breast  and  wings  are  just  as  graceful  as  the 
rest  is  clumsy.  Hence  it  was  necessary  to  give  to  the 
upper  parts  of  his  body  such  captivating  movement  as 
would  draw  the  attention  away  from  the  rest.  And 
the  more  so  as  the  swan,  being  near  the  woman's  body, 
must  be  drawn  in  more  than  natural  size. 

On  a  drawing  in  Chatsworth,  Leda  is  seen  half 
rising.  She  still  turns,  however,  to  the  other  side 
with  a  gesture  of  the  right  hand  and  a  torsion  of  the 
lower  part  of  her  frame.  Finally  Leonardo  gave  up 
all  movement  of  the  body  towards  the  children.  Leda 
stands  and  clasps  the  neck  of  the  swan  with  both  arms, 
while  he  approaches  her  with  gracefully  curved  neck, 
veiling  her  thighs  with  his  plumage. 

Henceforward  Leonardo  was  almost  solely  engaged 
in  the  perfection  of  the  woman's  form.  The  legs  are 
marked  by  the  subtle  change  of  the  line-play.  The 
left  leg  is  free  and,  being  slightly  put  forward,  inter- 
sects with  its  soft  curve  the  line  of  the  right  leg,  on 
which  the  figure  rests.  The  strong  outward  bend  of 
the  hips,  due  to  the  standing  position,  is  quite  in  the 
style  of  Praxiteles.  The  lines  of  the  neck  and  shoulders 
display  a  wonderful  suppleness  resulting  from  the 
frontward  curve  of  the  right  arm.    All  this  possesses 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

that  high  degree  of  refined  beauty  which  Leonardo 
always  extracted  from  the  human  form.  The  head 
with  the  downcast  eyes  is  depicted  in  the  way  familiar 
to  all  who  know  the  Mona  Lisa  or  the  Saint  Anna,  A 
smile  illumines  the  features,  while  the  eye  is  turned 
towards  the  children  escaping  from  the  eggs  (in  the 
Borghese  picture  they  are  already  playing  about). 
The  hair  is  stirred  by  a  faint  breeze  and  flutters 
gracefully  around  the  head. 

Here  one  can  learn  by  example  how  Leonardo  was 
wont  to  consider  each  detail  of  the  picture  with  the 
utmost  care.  On  a  sketch,  in  Windsor,  he  has  drawn 
the  head  of  Leda.  On  it  can  be  seen  distinctly  how 
the  hair  is  taken  up  and  laid  in  coils  on  both  temples, 
while  only  the  extreme  ends  are  left  free  for  the  wind 
to  sport  with.  Not  content  with  this,  Leonardo  has 
tried  to  make  clear  to  himself  how  the  hair  must  be 
fastened.  He  has  drawn  the  same  head  from  the 
back,  with  all  the  peculiar  twists  that  are  needed  to 
keep  fast  the  circular  form  of  the  plaits. 

One  has  only  to  imagine  this  splendid  type  of  female 
beauty  painted  in  the  finest  play  of  light,  with  a 
flower-decked  meadow  in  front  and  in  the  background 
a  wide  landscape,  resembling  that  of  the  St.  Anna  in 
tone  and  form,  to  divine  what  has  been  lost  with 
Leonardo's  own  creation. 

In  the  only  mythological  picture  that  he  ever 
painted,  Leonardo  dealt  with  the  inherent  difficulties 
of  the  subject  in  a  way  that  could  offend  no  one's 
modesty.  To  grasp  the  full  elevation  of  Leonardo's 
work,  one  would  do  well  to  compare  with  it  Correggio's 
picture  of  Leda  (at  Berlin).  Leonardo  here  applied 
in  practice  what  he  had  taught  in  theory  :  "  Women 
should  be  represented  in  modest  attitudes,  with  the 
legs  close  together  and  the  arms  folded  ;  their  heads 
looking  downwards  and  leaning  a  little  to  one  side." 
86 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

The  naked  body  is  here  handled  with  the  purity 
which  raises  the  Venus  of  Milo  and  Giorgione's  Venus 
high  above  all  other  kindred  works.  Leonardo's  Leda 
stands  on  an  equal  footing  with  these  two  figures  of 
the  goddess. 


THE  CARTOON  OF  "THE  BATTLE 
OF  ANGHIARI" 

IN  the  preparation  of  his  battlepiece  for  the 
Council  Chamber  of  the  Signorial  Palace, 
Leonardo's  various  gifts  combined  to  form  a 
union  of  the  scholar  and  the  artist.  Like  an  historian, 
who  strives  to  reproduce  in  all  its  details  an  event  of 
the  remote  past,  the  artist  familiarized  himself  with 
the  course  of  the  battle.  The  chief  leaders  and  the 
chief  incidents  appear  in  the  historical  description 
preserved  in  the  "  Codex  Atlanticus."  A  topographi- 
cal sketch  illustrates  the  scene  of  the  battle. 

But  much  earlier,  as  painter,  he  had  sought  to 
realize  what  artistic  points  the  struggle  of  armies 
afforded,  and  had  expressed  its  passions  with  wonder- 
ful force  in  the  graphic  description  that  is  to  be  found 
in  his  "  Trattato  della  pittura."  To  read  this  passage 
is  to  gain  a  distinct  idea  of  the  infinite  variety  of  move- 
ments, figures  and  groups  which  Leonardo  could 
conceive  in  a  battlepiece. 

No  one  was  better  fitted  to  design  and  execute  a 
work  of  this  kind,  in  which  man  and  horse  appeared  in 
such  manifold  forms.  Among  his  contemporaries  none 
had  pursued  the  study  of  anatomy  to  the  same  extent  : 
no  one  possessed  anything  like  his  intimate  knowledge 
of  the  horse's  body  and  the  artistic  possibilities  which 
it  offered.    Already  in  his  early  work — the  Adoration 

87 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

of  the  Kings — he  had  introduced  many  mounted 
groups  in  the  background.  There  are  depicted  horses 
quietly  pacing,  galloping,  rearing.  Afterwards  in 
Milan  he  had  worked  for  sixteen  years  on  end, 
modelling  a  colossal  equestrian  figure,  and  had  re- 
corded his  observations  in  many  sketches.  How  far 
superior  was  he  in  this  respect  to  his  great  rival, 
Michel  Angelo  ! 

The  picture  of  a  battle  can  only  be  treated  artisti- 
cally by  dissolving  the  action  into  single  groups.  By 
bringing  into  prominence  certain  natural  accompani- 
ments of  battle,  such  as  dust  and  smoke,  which  unite 
to  form  a  cloudy  atmosphere,  the  onlooker's  imagina- 
tion can  be  led  to  supply  what  in  reality  is  not  shown. 
All  the  leading  painters  of  this  class,  beginning  with 
Paolo  Uccello  and  Piero  della  Francesca,  confine 
themselves  to  relatively  few  figures.  Bristling  lances 
and  fluttering  pennons  in  the  background  are  made 
to  suggest  the  vast  size  of  the  army. 

By  a  knowledge  of  the  battlepieces  of  the  Quattro- 
cento, among  which  the  works  of  the  two  above- 
mentioned  painters  rank  highest,  Leonardo's  picture 
is  raised  to  an  imposing  height.  Uccello,  for  example, 
had  made  careful  study  of  the  movements  which  he 
meant  to  depict.  Still  he  was  unable  to  produce  the 
effects  which  he  intended.  His  horses  are  wooden. 
Their  action  is  lifeless  and  tame,  as  if  they  had  been 
petrified  at  a  given  moment. 

Of  the  extant  copies  of  the  Battle  of  Anghiari  not 
one  gives  us  a  picture  of  the  whole  composition.  We 
cannot  judge  of  its  extent  or  of  what  groups  it  con- 
sisted. Only  a  single  scene,  the  only  one  which 
Leonardo  painted  in  fresco,  is  preserved  in  its  main 
features — the  Struggle  for  the  Standard.  This  seems 
to  have  stood  in  the  centre  of  the  whole  picture. 
Other  incidents  can  be  identified  in  the  studies — 
88 


A  ft  (it  liOH 


STUDY   FOR   THE  "BATTLE   OF   ANGHIARI"  (VENICE). 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

mounted  and  foot  soldiers  mingled  in  fight,  warriors 
rising  high  in  their  stirrups  to  make  downward  thrusts 
with  their  lances  at  their  prostrate  foes,  confused 
masses  of  horses  and  riders.  Not  only  is  there  nothing 
in  all  Leonardo's  works  resembling  the  reproduction 
of  momentary  action  as  it  is  shown  in  several  of  these 
sketches  (in  Venice  and  London),  but  never  again  has 
anything  like  it  been  achieved.  We  are  forced  to 
believe  that  this  man  could  observe  with  the  same 
swiftness  and  accuracy  that  in  most  recent  times  we 
have  learnt  to  know  by  the  aid  of  instantaneous 
photography.  But  whereas  these  mechanical  fixations 
of  momentary  occurrences  have  something  rigid  and 
unreal  about  them,  the  record  made  by  the  greatest 
observer  of  all  time  lends  life  to  the  most  fleeting 
visions  in  such  high  measure  that  ideas  are  aroused 
which  give  them  a  past  and  future.  Hence  the  flood 
of  realism  which  even  in  the  first  hasty  sketches 
streams  towards  the  beholder. 

Leonardo's  observations,  treasured  up  for  years, 
were  now  scattered  lavishly  on  the  work  in  hand.  The 
artist  was  in  the  prime  of  life  and  at  the  height  of  his 
artistic  powers.  And  so  we  find  among  the  studies 
which  bear  directly  on  this  battle-piece,  or  are  near 
to  it  in  point  of  time,  drawings  of  such  impressive 
truth  and  beauty  that  there  is  nothing  to  equal  them 
in  the  whole  realm  of  art.  Among  his  sketches  of 
transient  action,  the  first  place  is  held  by  a  red  chalk 
drawing  in  Windsor  of  two  horsemen  on  rearing  steeds 
whose  hind  hoofs  just  touch  the  ground.  The  figures 
are  naked,  and  man  and  beast  are  one  in  will  and 
action. 

Not  less  magnificent  are  the  great  heads  in  red 
pencil  and  black  chalk  (at  Budapesth  and  Windsor), 
several  of  which  served  for  the  central  group  in  the 
battle-piece — T^he  Struggle  for  the  Standard.  From 

89 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

them  we  perceive  most  clearly  that  the  repeated 
sketches  of  striking  and  remarkable  heads  with  partial 
abnormities  have  had  their  deep  artistic  purpose,  just 
as  much  as  the  study  of  the  transitory  passions  which 
from  time  to  time  distort  the  human  countenance. 
All  these  men  open  their  mouths  to  voice  their  fury  ; 
the  folds  of  their  brows  contract  threateningly  ;  their 
eyes  seem  to  dart  flames  on  the  foemen.  And  yet  what 
a  refined  sense  of  beauty  marks  the  use  of  such  means ! 
Here  realism  never  appears  in  the  guise  of  ugliness. 

The  horses  are  filled  with  the  same  fury  as  their 
riders.  Not  only  do  they  madly  plunge  and  rear,  but 
they  fix  their  teeth  in  each  other.  Their  nostrils 
dilate  and  their  yawning  mouths  Jay  bare  the  bit. 
Thus  a  pen  and  ink  drawing  by  Leonardo  in  Windsor 
shows  us  a  series  of  efforts  which  make  a  most  marked 
approach  to  the  antique  representation  of  the  horse. 
For  in  certain  general  qualities  the  great  artists  of 
different  ages  are  closely  related,  because  the  eternal 
truths  of  form  are  never  lost,  even  if  the  idea  of  form 
may  be  subject  to  change  with  the  times. 

The  only  work  of  Leonardo  with  which  the  Battle 
of  Anghiari  can  be  compared,  is  a  composition  which 
must  have  taken  shape  about  the  same  time.  Leonardo 
sketched  for  a  Florentine,  Antonio  Segni,  with  whom 
he  was  on  terms  of  close  friendship  (according  to 
Vasari),  a  picture  of  Neptune  faring  over  the  sea. 
This  is  preserved  for  us  in  the  red  chalk  drawing  in 
Windsor.  In  it  all  is  treated  in  soft  rounded  lines 
symbolizing  water,  and  the  sea-horses  are  so  life-like, 
and  at  the  same  time  so  fancifully  conceived,  that  it 
seems  as  if  the  spirit  of  a  Greek  had  revived  in  Leo- 
nardo. Among  many  horizontal  lines  the  single 
vertical  figure  of  the  sea-god  is  doubly  imposing. 
Even  this  mighty  god  needs  all  his  strength  to  check 
the  wild  passions  of  his  team  of  four. 
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LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 


In  the  middle  of  the  work  Leonardo  abandoned  his 
battle  picture.  A  fragment  of  it  was  to  be  seen  on 
the  wall  of  the  Chamber  and  slowly  perished.  The 
cartoon  is  destroyed.  His  two  monumental  paintings 
met  with  a  sad  fate.  The  Last  Supper  has  survived 
the  centuries  as  a  wreck.  The  Battle  of  Anghiari  has 
not  even  been  preserved  in  its  entirety  for  posterity  in 
a  single  copy.  If  we  think  of  the  many  second  and 
third  rate  works  which  have  come  down  to  us  from 
the  same  period,  we  can  scarcely  repress  a  feeling  of 
pain,  seeing  that  mankind  has  been  robbed  of  the  work 
which  would  have  taken  the  first  place  in  the  portrayal 
of  the  deepest  passions  and  emotions. 


THE  "MONA  LISA" 

WE  know  from  documentary  evidence  that  this 
lady  was  a  Neapolitan  by  birth,  that  her 
name  was  Gherardini,  and  that  she  was 
married  in  1495  to  Francesco  del  Giocondo.  She 
became,  in  consequence,  named  after  her  husband 
"  la  Gioconda  "  (in  French  "  la  Joconde  ").  When 
Leonardo  painted  her  she  was  about  thirty  vears 
old. 

Vasari,  who  has  bequeathed  to  us  a  detailed  account 
of  the  lady's  portrait,  tells  the  following  story. 
"  Leonardo  adopted  this  artifice  : — Madonna  Lisa  was 
very  beautiful,  and  while  Leonardo  was  painting  her 
portrait,  he  kept  constantly  near  her  musicians,  singers 
and  jesters,  who  might  make  her  laugh,  and  so  dispel 
the  melancholy  which  is  so  easily  imparted  to  painted 
portraits.  In  Leonardo's  picture,  therefore,  there  is  a 
smile  so  sweet  that  while  looking  at  it,  one  thinks  it 
rather  divine  than  human  work  ;  and  so  it  has  ever 

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LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

been  deemed  a  wonderful  work  since  it  is  to  all 
appearance  alive." 

Here,  as  often,  Vasari  has  shown  the  finest  apprecia- 
tion of  the  work  of  art  which  he  describes.  In  speaking 
thus  emphatically  of  the  smile  of  Mona  Lisa,  he  has 
laid  stress  on  the  very  point  which  raises  this  picture 
above  all  other  portraits  in  the  world.  Even  if  the 
story  he  tells  to  explain  the  origin  of  this  mysterious 
charm  be  perhaps  untrue,  it  has  the  merit  of  being 
probable. 

Before  Leonardo,  an  artist  had  never  tried  (perhaps 
even  had  not  dared)  to  portray  a  woman's  smile.  All 
the  Florentine  portraits  of  the  Quattrocento,  which 
can  be  brought  into  comparison — both  single  portraits 
and  the  numerous  figures  in  frescoes — represent  men's 
forms  with  singular  fidelity.  In  them  exact  resem- 
blance is  striven  for  and  emphasized.  One  says, 
"  this  is  how  the  man  actually  looked."  What  Leo- 
nardo himself  once  said,  in  censure  of  these  old 
painters,  is  true.  They  resemble  a  mirror  which 
reflects  all  things  without  knowledge.  But  Leonardo 
has  painted  Mona  Lisa  as  at  times  she  could  have 
looked. 

Works  of  art  require  a  strong  sympathy  on  the  part 
of  the  onlooker.  The  more  significant  they  are,  the 
more  intense  must  be  the  sympathy.  The  artistic 
charm  of  the  Mona  Lisa  will  not  reveal  itself  to  any 
casual  eye.  So  it  is  less  familiar  to  the  public  than 
many  other  works  of  art,  not  to  mention  the  fact  that 
public  opinion  has  failed  to  give  it  the  place  that  is  its 
due.  It  requires  long — very  long  inspection.  At 
length  something  in  the  picture  begins  to  live.  Next 
the  smile  on  the  lips  is  seen  :  then  there  is  a  slight, 
subtle,  somewhat  mocking,  quiver  about  the  eye.  The 
more  one  lingers,  the  stronger  becomes  the  impression. 
What  Friedrich  Schlegel  says  of  the  Lucinde,  may  be 
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LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

said  of  Leonardo's  Mona  Lisa  : — "  With  the  growing 
interest  there  played  on  her  fine  countenance  an  ever 
new  music  of  spirited  glances  and  lovely  looks." 

Next  to  this  strong  impression  of  the  head,  the 
hands — the  noble,  slender,  proud  hands — of  this 
woman  will  captivate  our  long  and  lasting  interest. 
They  are  laid  on  each  other,  motionless  ;  hands  of 
ease  that  have  never  known  toil.  They  complete  the 
picture  as  they  are  indispensable  to  its  composition. 
From  their  delicate  shape  can  be  judged  the  careless 
grace  of  all  their  movements.  Nothing  can  mar  the 
harmony  of  their  beauty.  An  indescribably  magnifi- 
cent sheet  (at  Windsor)  by  Leonardo  shows  us  kindred 
forms  outlined  in  silver  point. 

Already  in  older  portraits,  landscape  had  been  used 
as  the  most  effective  background.  Usually  the  figure 
is  brought  to  the  front  and  rests  on  the  very  frame  of 
the  picture,  the  half  bust  being  shown  ;  behind,  a 
wide  stretch  of  country  is  seen  with  hills  and  clumps 
of  trees.  It  is  never  clearly  conceivable  where  the 
subject  of  the  portrait  can  be  standing  to  give  a  view 
of  this  landscape.  The  portraits  of  Memling,  in 
which  the  same  peculiarities  can  be  seen,  may  have 
supplied  the  model  for  the  Italian  painters.  The 
landscape  has  been  used  in  the  background  solely  with 
a  view  to  decorative  charm,  without  sufficiently 
considering  its  reality  or  possibility. 

Leonardo  did  not  let  himself  be  guilty  of  similar 
offences  against  truth.  Mona  Lisa  is  sitting  in  a 
loggia^  the  pillars  of  which  can  be  seen  on  the  left  and 
right  of  the  canvas.  At  the  bottom  a  stone  grey 
parapet  cuts  off  the  background.  Thus  one  is  looking 
from  a  height  on  to  a  rich  landscape,  which  with  great 
wealth  of  fancy  the  master  has  painted  under  a  serene 
light  as  the  worthiest  setting  for  the  graceful  lady. 
Once  more  an  impression  of  singular  beauty  is  felt 

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LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

without  the  eye  losing  itself  in  a  maze  of  detail.  One 
often  speaks  of  a  laughing  landscape.  This  one  smiles  : 
it  smiles  as  subtly,  as  unobtrusively  as  the  lips  and  eyes 
of  Mona  Lisa. 

The  dress,  which  clothes  the  figure  in  easy  fine  folds, 
is  quite  simple.  It  is  painted  in  greenish-grey  and 
silvery  tones.  The  time  was  past  when  costly  stuff 
formed  an  essential  factor  in  a  picture. 

Thus  all  the  details  fit  into  each  other  so  as  to  make 
the  whole  stand  forth  as  a  perfect  work  of  art.  Owing 
to  the  simplicity  of  the  picture  the  artistic  calculation, 
which  does  not  let  the  least  point  pass  unregarded,  is 
not  apparent. 

The  impression  made  by  this  portrait  on  the  art- 
world  of  Florence  must  have  been  immense.  From 
that  time  onward  no  more  portraits  were  painted  in 
the  old  style.  Never  has  an  artistic  taste  so  suddenly 
become  antiquated,  as  the  Quattrocento  style  of  por- 
traiture became  on  the  appearance  of  this  single 
picture.  But  there  was  no  one  in  Florence  who  could 
rise  to  this  height.  How  bourgeoise  and  commonplace 
appears  Raphael's  Maddalena  Doni,  which  clearly 
reveals  the  Urbinate's  attempt  to  copy  Leonardo, 
Jongside  of  the  aristocratic  Mona  Lisa.  Even  Sarto 
is  left  far  behind.  As  regards  the  best  of  his  successors, 
Pontormo  and  Bronzino  fail  so  often  in  simplicity. 
Their  female  portraits  are  cold  and  haughty.  They 
are  in  keeping  with  the  changed  conditions  of  the 
times  and  the  invasion  of  Spanish  etiquette. 

Leonardo  himself  created  the  only  rival  to  the  Mona 
Lisa,  He  did  not  finish  the  portrait,  and  only  the 
cartoon  in  Paris  has  preserved  for  us  the  fine  features 
of  this  woman.  Many  have  wished  to  recognize  in 
them  the  likeness  of  Isabella  d'Este.  Recent  research 
believes  that  this  must  be  disputed.  Nevertheless  one 
can  willingly  picture  in  these  fine  spirited  lines  the 

94 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

lady  who  represents  the  highest  type  of  feminine 
culture  in  the  golden  days  that  mark  the  beginning  of 
the  Cinquecento. 


THE  "JOHN  THE  BAPTIST" 

FROM  a  dark  background  stands  out  the  graceful 
figure  of  a  youth,  richly  flooded  with  light. 
A  well-rounded  arm  is  crossed  over  the 
breast  ;  one  hand  points  upwards  with  outstretched 
forefinger.  A  smile  rests  on  the  features.  Thus  has 
Leonardo  conceived  the  Baptist,  whom  the  Florentines 
sometimes  represented  as  a  child,  as  the  happy  play- 
fellow of  the  infant  Christ,  but  more  often  as  the  man 
in  the  wilderness — haggard,  clad  only  in  skins,  reduced 
to  a  wandering  skeleton.  Like  everything  that  we 
possess  by  Leonardo's  hand,  this  work  also  holds  a 
place  apart  from  all  other  art. 

In  the  series  of  Leonardo's  creations  it  occupies  a 
natural  place  among  his  efforts  to  animate  the  human 
body  by  the  charm  of  light,  to  produce  an  ideal  work 
in  "  sjumato^^''  comparable  to  the  Mona  Lisa^  and  to 
bring  the  soul  of  a  human  being  to  the  surface. 

The  figure  of  John  is  most  nearly  related  to  the 
Leda,  The  oval  shape  of  the  head,  the  curve  of  the 
throat  and  the  line  of  the  shoulders,  bear  the  most 
striking  resemblance  to  it.  From  the  painting  of 
John  can  be  gained  an  idea  of  Leda's  appearance  in  the 
original  picture.  There  is  also  a  detail  perfectly  in 
keeping  with  Leonardo's  style,  namely,  the  hand 
pointing  upwards.  In  like  manner  the  Apostle 
Thomas  in  the  Last  Supper  and  Saint  Anna  point 
heavenwards.  However,  the  subject  was  not  at  once 
treated  in  the  form  which  the  picture  in  the  Louvre 

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LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 


preserves  for  us.  Much  earlier  already  Leonardo  had 
drawn  the  Baptist  as  a  graceful  slender  figure  like 
Verrocchio's  David,  little  more  than  a  child,  standing 
v^ith  a  cross  of  reeds  in  his  hand.  This  drav^ing  is  in 
Windsor.  When  he  first  chose  the  form  of  a  half- 
length  picture  the  treatment  w^as  in  one  respect 
essentially  different.  It  lacked  the  turn  to  the  right  ; 
and  the  right  hand  is  not  crossed  over  the  breast, 
w^hich  in  consequence  is  fully  exposed.  The  left  hand 
too  is  in  full  viev^,  placed  against  his  breast,  as  if  in 
solemn  attestation. 

Even  this  composition,  of  v^hich  several  copies  are 
knov^n  (in  English  private  collections),  has  its  great 
charm.  But  if  it  is  compared  with  the  final  treatment, 
there  will  be  no  hesitation  in  preferring  the  latter. 
Perhaps  it  was  in  the  course  of  his  work  on  the  Leda 
that  Leonardo  realized  the  high  artistic  value  of  this 
pose.  Here  in  rendering  the  single  figure  he  had  the 
great  advantage  of  passing  beyond  the  two  dimensions 
and  of  giving  the  appearance  of  depth,  thereby  making 
a  most  extensive  call  on  the  beholder's  sense  of  space. 

Leonardo's  artistic  efforts  are  here  shown,  one  might 
almost  say,  in  the  abstract.  We  are  forced  to  ask 
what  has  this  supple  feminine  grace  to  do  with  the 
biblical  figure  of  Christ's  forerunner — ^the  figure  which 
tradition  had  fixed  in  definite  harsh  forms  ?  Can  this 
young  man  with  the  girlish  head  be  capable  of  making 
ready  the  way  for  Godhood  ? 

Devoted  to  his  own  peculiar  conception  of  beauty 
the  great  artist  leaves  the  beaten  track  of  naturalism, 
and  creates  form,  which  no  longer  express  the  inmost 
being  of  him  they  are  supposed  to  represent.  And 
the  smile,  which  spread  so  gently  over  the  features  of 
Mona  Lisa,  is  here  somewhat  unpleasing  in  its  extra- 
vagance. It  is  too  strongly  pronounced  and  so  loses 
the  endless  charm  which  it  has  in  the  lady's  portrait. 

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LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

But  probably  the  master's  hand  being  crippled  by 
paralysis,  did  not  put  the  final  touches  to  the  picture, 
while  the  pupil  could  produce  the  outward  effect  but 
not  the  spirit. 

To  go  beyond  this  point  meant  an  actual  danger. 
Just  as  Michel  Angelo's  imitators  one  and  all  offended 
when  they  thought  to  surpass  that  master  by  exaggerat- 
ing his  use  of  mighty  muscles,  so  the  Milanese  pupils 
of  Leonardo  looked  for  his  secret  in  supple  forms 
and  soft  smiles.  What  had  been  with  Leonardo  the 
wondrous  rendering  of  animated  moments,  became 
with  them  habitual,  monotonous  and  commonplace. 
And  so  Leonardo's  school  straightway  became  banal 
and  fell  under  the  curse  of  mannerism.  Even  the 
most  gifted  among  them  struggled  in  vain  against  the 
towering  superiority  of  their  great  prototype. 


ON  LEONARDO'S  "TREATISE  ON 
PAINTING  " 

FOR  everything  which  Leonardo  created  in  the 
line  of  art  we  can  find  theoretical  ground- 
work and  design  in  his  "  Treatise  on  Paint- 
ing." It  is  impossible  in  these  pages  to  present  his 
system  even  in  brief.  It  may  be  of  much  more 
importance  to  show  by  some  chosen  passages  what 
clearness  of  thought  he  possessed  in  matters  of  art  ; 
what  unusual  power  of  language  he  had  at  his  com- 
mand ;  finally  how  he  grasped  the  problems  of 
painting  in  the  widest  sense,  foreshadowing  what  the 
nineteenth  century  should  first  bring  to  fulfilment. 

On  whom  Nature  bestows  it  not,  to  him  one 
cannot  teach  it  "  {i.e.  the  art  of  painting).  For  this 
reason  it  is  the  noblest  among  all  the  imitative  arts. 

G  97 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 


The  painter  is  lord  of  all  things.  "  Has  he  the  will 
to  view  deep  glens,  or  would  he  from  high  mountain 
tops  behold  wide  vistas  of  rural  scenery  rolled  out 
before  him,  and  beyond  catch  glimpses  of  the  sea's 
horizon,  it  is  in  his  power  ;  likewise  also  if  he  wishes 
from  the  depth  of  valleys,  to  look  up  to  the  mountain 
heights,  or  from  their  summits  gaze  into  deep  gorge 
and  chasm,  he  may  do  so.  And  in  truth  all  that 
the  universe  holds,  be  it  real  and  visible  or  but  the 
creature  of  imagination,  he  has  in  spirit  and  later 
in  his  hands." 

The  learning  of  the  art  is  a  gradual  process.  The 
eye  must  first  be  schooled  by  the  work  of  a  great 
master,  afterwards  by  Nature.  "  The  young  student 
should  in  the  first  place  gain  a  knowledge  of  perspec- 
tive, in  order  to  give  each  object  its  proper  dimensions. 
Thereafter  it  is  needful  for  him  to  draw  after  a  good 
master's  hand  to  use  him  to  a  good  style  of  drawing 
limbs.  Next  he  should  study  Nature  and  so  confirm 
in  his  mind  the  reason  of  the  precepts  which  he  has 
learned.  He  must  also  spend  some  time  in  viewing 
the  works  of  old  masters,  and  finally  accustom  himself 
to  practise  the  art  which  he  has  acquired." 

But  an  artist  should  never  turn  his  back  on  Nature. 
"  I  say  to  painters  that  one  should  never  copy  the 
manner  of  another.  For  in  that  case,  as  far  as  his  art 
is  concerned,  he  cannot  be  called  the  child,  but  the 
grandchild,  of  Nature." 

Leonardo  is  unreservedly  in  favour  of  universality 
in  art.  "  It  reflects  no  great  honour  on  a  painter  to 
be  able  to  execute  only  one  thing  well,  such  as  a  model 
from  the  nude,  a  head,  drapery,  animals,  landscapes 
and  similar  specialities."  He  carries  his  reflection  still 
further.  I  have  invariably  noticed  that,  among 
those  whose  profession  it  is  to  portray  faces  from  life, 
he  who  does  it  most  faithfully  shows  himself  in  a  sadder 

98 


HrauH  Clement. 


PROFILE   OF   A   WARRIOR   (MALCOLM  COLLECTION). 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

light  than  any  other  painter  in  composing  historical 
pictures." 

Like  a  true  Florentine,  Leonardo  prefers  the  strong 
relief  of  figures  to  beauty  of  colouring.  "  A  painting 
will  only  be  wonderful  for  the  beholder  by  making 
that  which  is  not  so  appear  raised  and  detached  from 
the  wall.  But  the  colours  only  do  honour  to  those 
masters  who  prepared  them." 

By  far  the  most  important  point  in  the  whole 
theory  of  painting  is  to  make  the  actions  express  the 
psychical  state  of  each  character,  e.g.  desire,  disdain, 
anger,  pity  and  the  like." 

Strongly  as  Leonardo  urges  the  necessity  of  a 
painter  gaining  an  accurate  knowledge  of  anatomy,  he 
protests  equally  earnestly  against  showing  too  much  of 
this  knowledge.  O  anatomical  painter,  beware  lest 
a  too  great  knowledge  of  bones,  sinews  and  muscles 
cause  you  to  become  a  wooden  painter,  while  you 
strive  to  make  your  naked  figures  show  the  whole  play 
of  their  muscles." 

"  A  good  painter  has  two  chief  objects  to  paint — 
man  and  the  intention  of  his  soul.  The  former  is 
easy,  the  latter  hard,  for  it  must  be  expressed  by 
gestures  and  movements  of  the  limbs." 

Only  a  complete  knowledge  of  gesture  renders 
it  possible  to  depict  the  various  emotions  of  the 
soul. 

The  artist  should  sketch  his  observations  with  hasty 
strokes.  For  there  are  in  things  such  countless  forms 
and  attitudes  that  no  memory  can  retain  them." 

"  Sketches  of  historical  subjects  should  be  drawn 
quickly  and  with  life,  without  regard  to  the  finishing 
of  particular  members.  Be  content  with  the  form  and 
posture  of  the  limbs."  "  Histories  should  induce  the 
bystander  to  display  the  same  emotions  as  the  pictures 
are  designed  to  represent."    Above  all  he  insists  on 

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LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

change  and  variety.  The  repetition  of  any  part  is  to 
be  avoided  at  all  costs. 

On  this  head  Leonardo's  language  sometimes  rises 
to  the  highest  poetic  beauty.  "  The  divinity  which 
dwells  in  the  painter's  art  brings  it  about  that  the 
painter's  soul  soars  upwards  till  it  partakes  of  the 
nature  of  the  holy  spirit.  For  with  power  and  free- 
dom it  busies  itself  in  the  creation  of  divers  animals, 
of  all  manner  of  beings,  plants,  fruits,  landscapes, 
fields  and  mountain  slopes  ;  of  fearsome  and  ghastly 
spots  which  fill  the  onlooker  with  affright  ;  likewise  of 
pleasant  regions  gracious  and  glad  with  gay-flowered 
meadows  which  the  soft  breath  of  the  wind  stirs  into 
gentle  ripples  that  follow  the  fleeting  stream  of  the 
breeze  ;  of  rivers  which  descend  from  the  lofty 
mountains  with  rain-swollen  waters,  rolling  in  their 
floods  uprooted  trees  mingled  with  boulders,  roots, 
earth  and  mud  and  tearing  away  all  that  tries  to  stem 
their  torrents." 

"  The  sea  with  its  billows  wrestles  and  tosses  in 
strife  with  the  vnnds  that  challenge  it.  It  heaves  its 
proud  waves  aloft  and  hurls  them  on  the  storm  which 
lashes  their  base.  They  enclose  him  and  hold  him 
captive.  He  rends  them  asunder,  mixes  with  their 
turbid  foam  and  vents  his  frenzied  rage  upon 
them." 

"  Before  the  wind's  exceeding  might  the  sea-froth 
flees.  Madly  it  dashes  by  beetling  cliffs  and  headlands, 
hither  and  thither,  until  it  flies  over  their  summits  and 
falls  into  the  vales  beyond.  Elsewhere  the  foam  falls 
victim  to  the  storm  and  mingles  in  it  :  part  rises  only 
to  descend  again  like  rain  upon  the  sea,  part  too 
recoiling  in  surf  from  the  steep  rocky  strand  rolls  all 
before  it  that  resists  its  onset  :  but  oft  it  meets  the 
oncoming  wave  and  in  the  shock  spirts  up  to  heaven, 
filling  the  air  with  mist  of  mud  and  spray.  This  the 
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STUDY   OF   A   TREE  (WINDSOR.) 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

storm  lashes  to  the  foreland's  verge,  churns  into  cloud 
and  casts  as  a  prey  to  the  victor  winds." 

With  like  powder  Leonardo  describes  the  manner  in 
v^hich  a  squall  or  night  should  be  painted.  Splendid 
also  is  his  graphic  sketch  of  a  battle  scene,  where  the 
smoke  of  cannon  mingles  with  the  eddying  dust.  The 
faces  of  those  who  serve  the  guns  are  red.  The  air  is 
filled  with  arrows  and  musket-balls.  He  describes 
how  victor  and  vanquished  should  be  drawn.  The 
ground  is  covered  with  a  bloody  slime  and  full  of 
footprints  of  men  and  horses.  The  whole  is  marked 
by  soul-stirring  interest  and  change. 

An  unceasing  study  of  all  that  he  saw  enabled  him 
to  grasp  things  for  the  portrayal  of  which  the  time  had 
not  yet  come.  Towards  evening  or  in  bad  .weather 
I  have  noticed  the  features  of  men  and  women  in  the 
streets  and  marked  what  grace  and  softness  can  be 
seen  thereon." 

"  If  you  are  representing  figures  in  the  open  air, 
and  the  sun  be  overcast,  they  will  be  surrounded  by  a 
great  amount  of  general  light.  But  if  the  sun  strikes 
upon  them,  then  their  shadows  will  be  very  dark  in 
proportion  to  the  lights,  and  the  bodies  as  well  as  the 
cast  shadows  will  have  sharp  outlines.  Such  shadows 
will  vary  from  the  light  in  colour.  For  on  one  side 
the  blue  of  the  air  shines  and  tinges  the  part  on  which 
it  strikes  with  its  own  hue  :  this  is  specially  observable 
in  the  case  of  white  objects.  But  the  side  which 
receives  the  light  from  the  sun,  shares  also  in  the. 
colour  of  that.  This  you  will  see  very  clearly  when 
the  sun  is  going  below  the  horizon  amid  red  clouds  : 
those  clouds  being  tinged  with  the  colour  of  the  body 
enlightening  them  ;  the  redness  of  the  clouds  together 
with  that  of  the  sun  makes  everything  which  gets 
light  from  them  reflect  red.  Whereas  the  sides  of  the 
bodies  which  the  red  rays  do  not  strike,  remain  of  the 

lOI 


LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 


colour  of  the  air  ;  so  that  whoever  looks  on  these  same 
bodies  deems  them  to  be  twi- coloured."  Do  we  not 
seem  to  have  an  impressionist  picture  before  our  eyes  ? 

Again  and  again  he  lays  stress  on  minute  observa- 
tion, yet  at  the  same  time  he  leaves  the  fullest  freedom 
to  the  fancy.  Everything  is  to  be  built  on  experience, 
"  which  never  plays  false."  Those  who  plunge  into 
the  practice  without  gaining  knowledge  of  the  art,  he 
likens  to  "  mariners  who  put  to  sea  without  rudder 
and  compass."  But  experience  can  only  be  gained  by 
ceaseless  observation.  "  A  painter  should  abandon 
himself  to  solitude,  and  reason  much  within  himself 
on  all  he  sees,  making  use  of  the  most  excellent  parts 
in  each  sort  of  object  before  him."  With  regard  to  a 
painter  he  readily  uses  the  simile  of  a  mirror,  "  reflect- 
ing truly  the  images  of  all  things  which  are  in  front  of 
it."  "  If  he  does  so,  it  will  become,  as  it  were,  a 
second  nature." 

To  stimulate  the  fancy,  Leonardo  advises  the  artist 
to  look  at  walls  "  that  are  bespattered  with  all  manner 
of  stains  or  at  veined  marbles  of  various  hues,"  or  into 
the  embers  of  the  fire,  into  clouds  or  puddles  :  "  there 
may  one  behold  landscapes,  battles,  figures  in  lively 
motion,  queer  and  wondrous  forms,  also  things 
monstrous,  as  demons."  "  By  confused  and  vague 
objects  the  inventive  genius  awakens  to  new  exertions." 

Here  on  the  domain  of  art  Leonardo's  two  natures 
interpenetrate  most  wonderfully,  the  scientific  spirit 
of  inquiry  mingling  with  the  creative  impulse  of  the 
artist.  We  are  spectators  of  a  drama  which  is  unique 
in  the  history  of  the  human  soul. 


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SOME  WORKS  ON  LEONARDO 


(It  is  only  possible  to  point  out  some  of  the  most  important  publi- 
cations.) 

Leonardo's  Manuscripts  have  been  published  as  follows : — 

'l.  Those  preserved  in  France,  by  Ravaisson-MoUien,  6  vols. 
(Paris  1889-1891). 

2.  Those  in  the  Royal  Library  at  Windsor,  by  Piumati  &  Sabach- 

nikoff  (Paris  1898). 

3.  The  "  G)dex  Atlanticus  "  in  the  Ambrosian  Library,  Milan,  by 

the  Accademia  dei  Lincei  (Rome  1891). 

4.  The  Codex  of  the  Trivulzian  Library,  issued  by  L.  Beltrami 

(Milan  1891). 

5.  The  Codex  containing  the  "  Flight  of  the  Birds,"  by  Piumati  & 

Sabachnikoff  (Paris  1893). 

6.  The  "  Treatise  on  Painting  "  :  best  edition  by  H.  Ludwig, 

3  vols.  (Vienna  1882). 

Extracts  from  the  Manuscripts  comprise  t — 

J.  P.  Richter,  "  The  Literary  Works  of  Leonardo  da  Vinci " 
(London  1883). 

Very  noteworthy  also  on  account  of  the  excellent  illustrations. 

Solmi,  "  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  Frammenti  letterari  e  filosofici " 
(Florence  1900). 

Among  the  numerous  biographies  may  be  specially  mentioned  : — 

C.  Amoretti,  "  Memorie  storiche  suUa  vita  di  Leonardo  da  Vinci  " 

(Milan  1804). 
E.  Solmi,  "  Leonardo  "  (Florence  1900). 

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LEONARDO  DA  VINCI 

J.  Uzielli,  "  Ricerche  intorno  a  Leonardo  da  Vinci  "  :  serie  prima 
(Florence  1872  ;  enlarged  edition,  Turin  1896)  ;  serie  seconda 
(Rome  1884). 

J.  P.  Richter,  "  Leonardo  "  (London  1880,  sec.  edit.  1894). 
E.  Miintz,  "  Leonardo  da  Vinci  "  (Paris  1899). 

G.  Seailles,  "  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  I'artiste  et  le  savant  "  (Paris  1892). 
P.  Miiller-Walde,  "  Beitrage  zur  Kenntnisz  des  Leonardo,"  in  the 

year-book  of  the  Prussian  Art  Collections,  1897,  1898  and  1899. 

H.  Wolfflin,  "  Die  klassische  Kunst  "  (Munich  1898). 

A  critical  collection  of  Leonardo's  drawings  is  contained  in  Mr.  B. 
Berenson's  book  on  the  Florentine  Drawings  (London  1903). 


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